You may be aware that the Council has now changed the bins in Sawbridgeworth. As we have communal bins we are excempt from this change and should still only have, blue bins for recycling , a blue bin for paper and black bins for other waste. If there is a brown food waste bin in your store please DO NOT use it!! The Council has advised us that all bins will be emptied next week and the bin stores will be checked to see if we have the correct bins and remove any that have been delivered in error.

Please can we also remind that electrical items MUST NOT be placed in the bin store areas as they will not be collected.

The committee met on the 19th June and would like to advise you of the following items that we discussed –
1- The pot holes in the Private Road are due to be repaired.
2- The cost of installing CCTV around the estate was investigated , however is was agreed by the committee that it would not be cost effective. However, we are looking into the possibility of installing dummy cameras as a deterrent.
3- A request was made by a resident at the AGM to have another blue bin in bin store 3. The council has advised the committee that the bin to household ratio is adequate. It was suggested that, as often the black bins are empty and the blue ones are overflowing, some of the black bin could be swapped for blue ones. The committee will liase with the Council to see if this is possible.
4- The footpath leading from Bullfields to garage court 1 is in bad repair. This has been reported to the Council but they say it will not be repaired at present. You can report this on their website. If we all keep bombarding them, they may take notice!
https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/highways-roads-and-pavements/report-a-problem/report-a-street-light-or-pothole.aspx

After receiving notification from the council we can confirm that our bin collections will remains the same, as flats and communal bins are not affected by the new changes.

Thank you to all those who attended the meeting on Wednesday 12th March 2025

Board Members attending
Richard Taylor Chairman
Ian Talbot Board Member
Sandra Samuel Secretary
Edward Stace Board Member
Karyn Hammond Grounds
Richard Hinds Board member
Matthew Ironside Treasurer

Members attending – 8

1/ Welcome.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained that any matters raised would be discussed at the next committee meeting to be held next week.

2/ Apologies
Brenda McKie Board Member
39 & 22 Members

3/ Directorship -Nominations & Re-elections.
No Nominations were made and all members were re-elected.

4/ Introduction to the Board.
Each committee member introduced themselves.

5/ Chairman’s Report.
The Chairman confirmed that all members had received a copy of the 2024 AGM minutes . He thanked the committee for their work during the past year. A special thanks was given Mathew Ironside for his continued hard work for the Committee and Members whilst also working from abroad.

6/ Accounts.
The Treasurer reported that due to COVID and the accounts had been a year behind, they are now up to date. Insurance costs have increased considerable but we have been able to offset this in the annual fee to Members.
SUMMARY OF ACCOUNTS
2023 SURPLUS £10500
2024 SURPLUS £5400
2025 expected to be a loss of approx. £15000 due to additional expenses. However, the accounts are level over the past 3 years.

7/ Matters arising from 2024 AGM
BUILDING INSURANCE
The Chairman confirmed that he has been in contact with Nicholsons. We have no option to use other companies for Insurance and Nicholsons says they give us the best price.

8.AOB
A. BINS
One member reported that the bins in the Private Road are being used by non-residents. Residents are not using the bins correctly with the wrong items being put in the wrong bins. The Chairman thanked them for the information but felt there is little we can do to resolve the situation.

One member asked if an extra blue bin could bin put in bin store 3
ACTION REQUIRED – Karyn to ask for an extra blue bin.

B. DOG FOULING
A member shared her concerned about dog fouling on the estate and that it is often not being picked up. There are some signs that were put up by the council to discourage this but they are being ignored.
ACTION REQUIRED – Ian Talbot to contact the local Council to see if they can help with more signage.

C. PATH LEADING FROM BULLFIELDS
The path is still in a bad state of repair. Karyn confirmed that this has been reported several times but it is of low priority to the Council. She encouraged people to continue reporting it to the Council.
NO ACTION REQUIRED BY THE COMMITTEE AT PRESENT

D. GARDENS
A member asked the committee to pass on her thanks to the gardener for continuing to keep the estate looking nice.
ACTION REQUIRED – Karyn to pass on thanks
The meeting closed at 8.00PM