The Committee of the Residents Association would like to remind residents about our next General Meeting.

This will be held in the The Hub off Pittway Avenue.  The date is Thursday 3rd July starting at 18.30.  We expect the meeting to take around one hour.

The meeting is on the first floor which is normally accessed by stairs.  If you have mobility issues please let us know in advance so we can arrange alternative access.

This is an opportunity for you to find out what your Committee has been doing on your behalf over recent months and to ask any questions you may have.  

To see the proposed agenda visit this page: Meeting Minutes  

If there is something specific you wish to raise please contact us as soon as possible so that we can consider if it is already covered or whether we need to add it to the agenda.

We hope you will take the opportunity to be a part of The Herdwick community and come along to the meeting.  We do need a quorum for the meeting to take place.  We look forward to seeing you there.

Best wishes.

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In this report we bring you news of our landscape planting audit and an update on road works.

Landscape Audit

In 2024 gaps were identified in the trees and shrubs planted on our two developments.  Taylor Wimpey arranged for contractors to carry out remedial planting to improve the situation. 

Last week some members of the Residents Association committee plus a few volunteers walked round Herdwick Gate and Herdwick Fold to check this work. 

It was evident that many of the trees identified as dead or missing from last year’s audit had been properly replaced. 

However there are still a number of areas that do not reflect the landscaping plans and we are writing to Taylor Wimpey to highlight where further action is required.

As we walked round we did a spot of litter picking.  By the end of the afternoon we had filled about four large bin bags of litter.  We also retrieved a traffic cone from one of the attenuation basins.  See image.

Road works on Herdwick Fold

Further to our article on 25th April informing residents of planned dates for road works on Herdwick Fold we are happy to report that Stage 1 road resurfacing has been completed on Barrett Place.  In other areas work is ongoing to raise iron-works ahead of scheduled resurfacing work.

Barrett Place - before.

Barrett Place - after.

Stage 2 work is due to commence on Bradley Drive and Nichols Court on 20th June.

General Meeting Thursday 3rd July

Finally a note for your diary.  We will be holding our next Residents Association General Meeting at The Hub on Thursday 3rd July, starting at 18.30. 

We will be discussing matters relevant to our two developments and it’s an opportunity for residents to put questions to the committee. 

This is your Residents Association so please come along and meet the committee and your fellow residents.  We hope to see you there.

If you have any comments on this article, or if you have any questions please drop us line.  You can contact us here.

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One of the things we have been talking to Taylor Wimpey (TW) about is the landscaping of our Public Open Spaces (POS) on both Herdwick Gate and Herdwick Fold.

In the summer of 2024 we conducted a landscaping audit and found lots of missing or dead trees and plants.  We shared our audit with TW and over recent months they tell us that contractors have been on-site to carry out remedial planting. 

We have seen evidence of this taking place but we are convinced that more work is required.  In order to identify any remaining gaps we wish to conduct another planting audit on both developments.  We will send our findings to TW and ask them to take action. 

This audit is taking place on Wednesday 21st May 2025.  Timing to be decided - but it will be in the afternoon or early evening.

Would you like to join us as we walk round?  It will probably take a couple of hours.  We have a landscape plan so it’s simply a case of walking round and comparing reality to the plan, and noting any issues.

Whilst we are doing this we thought it would be an opportunity to do a litter pick and bag up any rubbish we find lying around.  Please contact us if you would like to help out.

If you have any comments on this article, or if you have any questions please drop us line.  You can contact us here.

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We have good news.  Taylor Wimpey has appointed Shannonside Civil Engineering Ltd as the contractors who will complete our road surfaces.  They have been delivering letters to residents on Herdwick Fold advising dates when work will begin.

Final remedial works will begin over the coming weeks.  This will include replacing damaged kerbs and edgings, raising iron works, resurfacing footpaths and roads, and providing the final road surface.

Access to and from your property may be restricted between 08.00 and 17.00 during these works but Shannonside workers will assist residents with any access requirements.

Road surfacing work will take place in four stages, as outlined on the plan below.

Stage 1: Barrett Place (red) - starts 23rd May 2025

Stage 2: Bradley Drive and Nichols Court (blue) - starts 20th June 2025

Stage 3: From 34 to 55 Nason Way (yellow) - starts 25th July 2025

Stage 4: Nason Way from Campden Road to junction with Barrett Place (green) - starts 22nd August 2025

Please note that the above dates are subject to change where work is disrupted due to events outside Shannonside’s control, for example adverse weather conditions.

Let’s do all we can to enable Shannonside to complete the work by keeping roads and footpaths clear at the designated times.  We may finally be about to get our roads and pavements finished!  We should have a party when it’s all done.

If you have any comments on this story, or if you have any questions about the planned works please drop us line.  You can contact us here.

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Since our last report the Residents Association committee has been trying to get Taylor Wimpey (TW) to engage with us and share what information they have on a range of issues affecting the Herdwick Gate and Herdwick Fold developments. 

Their response has been tardy and lacking in detail, but finally we have some news we can share about the roads and pavements on the Herdwick Fold development.  Other important issues will be covered in separate articles to be published shortly.

Ongoing discussions

TW apologised for the delay in responding.  They told us they have been in discussions with Warwickshire County Council (WCC) and United Living to resolve matters regarding the roads.  United Living are responsible for the roads on the Shepherd’s Gate development (Orbit), which join Nason Way.  There have been issues where the two developments meet at the junction of Hands Place and Nason Way.

The Section 38 agreement between WCC and TW is progressing and is expected to be finalised shortly.  This agreement is required before TW can carry out the final road works.  It’s been a difficult process, made more complicated by the need for TW and United Living to work together and agree who needs to do what where their respective roads meet.

Manhole remedials start 21st April 2025

The Section 104 agreement for Severn Trent to adopt sewers is in place and manhole remedials are due to start on Monday 21st April.  This should take up to two weeks to complete.

Road remedials expected May 2025

TW tell us that as far as final road works are concerned they have already gone through the tendering process and they have chosen a contractor to do the work.  It is their intention to start these road works in early May 2025 on a road by road basis, as the manhole remedials are completed.

United Living must complete some remedial works to the left hand junction of Hands Place, for the TW road to tie in to.  See image.

This is a pre-requisite for TW works to go ahead in that area.  So TW intends to start from the rear of the Herdwick Fold development working towards Campden Road.  This should give United Living sufficient time to complete their work.

TW’s contractor will complete all back edgings and kerbs as stage one of the planned road works, and once WCC are happy with this the road topping can be scheduled. 

You may have noticed over recent days that some of our pavements and kerbstones have been sprayed with blue paint in anticipation of this work.

The short footpath connecting Bradley Drive to Campden Road should disappear as part of these works, with the area being landscaped.  See image.

Access to the highway

The contractor will complete a letter drop to all residents before works commence and they will be requesting your support to enable access to all areas of the highway so that road surfacing work is not held up.  Residents may need to identify temporary alternative parking spots for vehicles.

Adoption of roads by WCC

Once all road works are completed WCC will check that the required standards have been met.  Assuming they do meet the required standards the clock starts ticking on a 12 month transition period, following which the council will fully adopt the roads and pavements providing that no issues have emerged.

The long and bumpy road

At long last, it would appear as if we are on the cusp of getting the roads and pavements on Herdwick Fold finished.  It’s worth bearing in mind that the first homes were sold back in 2019, so some residents have been waiting for this for almost six years. 

It’s been a long and bumpy road getting to this point!  But TW tell us they have got their resources lined up and we must hope that United Living do their bit at the Hands Place junction. 

Who knows, maybe we will have smooth roads by the summer!

If you have any comments on this story, or if you have any questions about the planned works please drop us line.  You can contact us here.

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Your committee had a meeting with Trinity on 11th February 2025 and we have exchanged a number of emails over recent months.  We have been discussing the service they will be providing when they assume responsibility for maintaining the Public Open Spaces (POS) on our developments.

Whilst they won’t be taking on this responsibility for some time we wanted to establish a relationship and understand how things will work.  This report sets out what we have learned so far in terms of adoption of the POS and how maintenance payments will be worked out.

About Trinity

To give them their full name: Trinity (Estates) Property Management Limited.  (Company Number 03853617).  Part of the Trinity Property Group Limited, they are based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.

Trinity are the designated ‘Management Company” for both Herdwick Gate and Herdwick Fold developments, as set out in the transfer documents we all signed when we bought our homes.

When will Trinity take over?

It is too early to say.  All POS must be of an acceptable standard before Trinity will take over maintenance from Taylor Wimpey, and right now there is plenty of remedial work to be done before this can happen.  For example trees and shrubs are deficient and the gravel pathways are in a terrible condition.

Best estimates at this stage would be that Trinity could potentially adopt Herdwick Gate POS by late summer 2025.  Herdwick Fold POS is unlikely to be adopted in 2025 due to the number of issues that need to be resolved.

What will Trinity do when they take over?

Each development will be managed separately.  A maintenance schedule will be produced setting out exactly what work will be done.

This will cover things like maintenance of the POS including the green landscape, play area and attenuation basin.  For Herdwick Gate only it will also include maintenance of the bricked roads.  On top of that they will arrange things like Public Liability Insurance, any inspections required and other administrative and management tasks.

A Trinity manager will conduct a site visit every eight weeks and we will be notified when this is so we can speak with them.  Play areas will be inspected every six months.  The attenuation basins will be maintained twice a year.  General landscaping maintenance is normally 21 visits a year.

It’s important to note that roads and pavements will not be maintained by Trinity.  These will eventually be adopted by Warwickshire County Council.

How much will Trinity charge?

The estimated cost of all required work will be set out in an annual budget and the total amount will be divided equally by the number of properties on the development.

For example, we have seen a budget that was drawn up for Herdwick Fold which was intended to give prospective home buyers an indication of costs.  Back then the total annual estimated cost was £27,157.  Divided by 143 properties this worked out at about £190 per household per annum, or around £16 per month.  That was a few years ago so clearly the cost will have increased.

When will residents start to pay?

Right now any maintenance activity you see is organised by Taylor Wimpey and they pay for this, not residents.

At some stage our POS will be inspected by Stratford District Council (SDC) to ensure it meets the required standards.  We are nowhere near this happening as many issues remain which Taylor Wimpey needs to put right.

But in future when SDC signs it off as ready for adoption Taylor Wimpey will transfer title of the land over to Trinity and at this point Trinity becomes responsible for maintenance.

Normally this is the point at which residents would expect to start paying for maintenance.  However in the case of both developments there is an unusual legal agreement in place that should defer the start of these payments for a period of seven years.  This is the Section 106 Agreement.

The Section 106 Agreement

To discover more about this please refer to our earlier report, which explains the situation in detail.

The latest news we have is that Taylor Wimpey appear to be questioning the wording of this agreement.  We are in touch with SDC to ensure that nothing happens which will result in residents being disadvantaged.

What input will residents have in relation to the maintenance service?

Trinity will set up a management team for each development.  The Residents Association Committee will have a seat at the table to represent all residents, but if you are especially keen to have your say you can also ask to be there in your own right.

Trinity have the final decision on matters however they have said they will listen to residents.  For example, when Trinity are tendering for businesses to do on site works, they would consider suggestions from us for local suppliers who meet their procurement standards.

Can we remove them if they do a bad job?

In theory yes we can, but it would be a last resort as it would be a complicated matter.

According to the legal documents we all signed when we bought our houses, if a majority of residents decide they wish to remove Trinity there is a way of doing this.  In reality we would want to work closely with Trinity to ensure standards are maintained and to resolve any issues as they arise.

The Residents Association Committee will continue to keep in touch with Trinity to ensure we are kept up to speed on the work to transfer responsibility for maintenance over to them.

If you have any comments on current maintenance work, or if you have any questions about how maintenance under Trinity will work please drop us line.  You can contact us here.

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