Gallolee Path
Gallolee path is closed. You will need to divert via Redford Road or via the Care Home and down through the woods.
DPRA
Abandoned Toyota
18.10.19 Still nothing back from the DVLA. We may have to consider our options on what to do with this vehicle. It is really becoming a bit of an eyesore with flat tyres etc.
Grass Cutting.
12.10.19 The last cut of the year should take place today Saturday 12.10.19. This will be the fourteen cut with a total cost for the year of £2800.
51 houses contributed £60 each (Total £3060). Unfortunately this has left very little towards general maintenance. A review of the Garden Maintenance Fee will be made prior to next year’s AGM which hopefully will be held in Mid March.
Gallolee Path. (Between 18 & 19 Dreghorn Park.)
10.10.19 The council have put up notices saying work will be carried out on the path from Monday 21.10.19 to Friday 25.10.19.
The notice states that pedestrian flow will be maintained but given the narrow nature of the path this does seem somewhat unlikely. Be prepared to take an alternative route via Redford Road or via the Care Home and down through the Redford Woods.
Tree Removal – (Updated… please read full post).
The tree cutting contractor has confirmed a date of 07.10.19 (this coming Monday) to remove the Leylandii conifers in the main grassed area and the dead Cherry trees at the East end of the street. It would be appreciated if residents would move any vehicles parked close to the trees as no responsibility will be taken by the contractor or DPRA if the vehicles are not removed. The majority of foliage and small branches will be chipped and removed from site but logs will be left on site and can be obtained by residents for a small donation to the Garden Maintenance Fund.
Suitable replacements for the Cherry trees is presently on the committee agenda.
We have had a couple queries regarding maintenance etc. For avoidance of doubt, as per the deed of conditions for all properties in Dreghorn Park, each and every owner of property in Dreghorn Park is legally obliged to contribute to the maintenance and upkeep of the common garden and car-park areas irrespective of whether they use these areas or not.
Next Committee Meeting.
No date has been set for the next meeting, but hopefully we shall have another meeting prior to Christmas.
Committee Meeting – Please read fully.
25.09.19 A number of issues were discussed including the removal of the Leylandii trees (their removal had already been voted on and approved at committee level and subsequently confirmed at the last AGM). A couple of quotes were obtained, one of which was astronomical at almost £2000 and another at a cost of £850. This is for the removal of the Leylandii and dead Cherry trees to stump level, removal of all foliage and chipping of smaller branches with the remainder “log” size branches being left on site. The cost will be paid from the small float in our Garden Maintenance Fund. The committee members voted to go ahead with the £850 quote as they felt that trying to remove the trees bit by bit was going to take forever.
It is likely that we will ask the existing grass contractor to trim the hedges and bushes two or three times next year. There would be an additional cost to this obviously but the committee felt that we can not continue to rely on the good-will of a small number of people using their own time and effort on this. It is likely that the cost per house this coming year for the garden maintenance fund will rise to at least £80 as this years figure of £60 has barely paid for the number of cuts required this year (so far 13 cuts but possibly at least another one will be required if not two).
Purely as an exercise one of the committee members contacted a number of Property Factors to obtain a quote for the maintenance and upkeep of our mutually own property i.e. grass and bushes / tree etc. Only one Factor came back to him and the quote was an eye-watering £450 per house per year. Clearly it shows that our fee for garden maintenance should be considered extremely reasonable.
The car park repairs were discussed at length and it was agreed that some form of two stage payment should be implemented to help spread the cost for residents. An exact figure is not yet available but this will be discussed fully at the next AGM which we hope to hold in March next year.
Due to drainage work required at No.18 it is likely the pedestrian path down to the Gallolee will be closed for 4 or 5 days to allow this work to take place. The council will hopefully erect a notice to that effect with a few days warning.
Toyota (small update last para).
20.09.19 – on return from a few days down south I found I had received a letter from DVLA asking why we required the owner’s information. This was despite filling in the appropriate sections on the form provided by the DVLA informing them that we own the car park in which the vehicle has been abandoned etc. and that we wish to contact the owner to arrange removal of the vehicle. They have provided yet another form to fill in which I will return suitably completed etc but I intend adding a covering letter to clarify the situation.
As discussed at the committee meeting we may or may not get the information we require and it may be the case that we have to arrange disposal of this vehicle by some means or other.
Committee Meeting (25.09.19)
20.09.19 Next committee meeting Wednesday 25th September ’19, 7.30pm No.38.
Previous meeting had to be cancelled. Agenda remains the same. Could all committee members please attend as we may require a vote on a couple of issues.