January 2025 Newsletter
Happy New Year to everyone. We hope you are keeping safe and warm during this first cold snap of the year.
Now the celebrations are over it is a time to look back at what we have achieved and look forward to what we are planning during 2025.
Hopefully, you have received your Equal Contribution (EC) invoice and certainly many have already settled the £60.00 plus VAT levied for which we are very grateful. Unfortunately, we still have a small number of owners who refuse to pay and so we have decided to take them to the small claims court. We are not sure whether previous Trustee groups have carried through this threat but feel we have exhausted all other routes. They will be receiving a final letter and then if we receive no response court action will be initiated.
The effort expended in processing this year’s EC invoices has strengthened our desire to use e-mail as our primary communication method with you. We will be looking soon to obtain current email addresses from all and also to confirm that our contact details in general are fully up to date.
We will then use email to send out future invoices and, where necessary, chase payments. We will also use email to send out newsletters and details of upcoming events and general meetings. You will of course be given the option to opt out of any marketing and informational content.
We hope you have been making the most of what the Roman Crown has to offer including the Senior Citizen £10.00 lunch on a Thursday and the warmth offered in the café on these winter days. It is in our interest to support Robin and Lynn where we can as their success will be reflected in our ECs moving forward. Having read recent comments on FB I want to reiterate that your ECs are not used to subsidise any of our tenants’ businesses. Our main aim has been to put Roman Park Management Ltd (RPM Ltd) onto a firm financial footing and to build up sufficient reserves so that we are able to manage any unforeseen expense resulting from owning a building starting to show its age.
With the renegotiation of many of our contracts we have greatly reduced the outgoings of the building. We are currently reviewing Snipaholix lease to bring it more into line with that given to the Roman Crown last year and we will look to do something similar for 1st Choice Properties when we can.
We have instructed Louch Shadlock to start the work necessary to progress a possible sale of the site. You may notice various professionals sizing it up over the coming months. I’m sure you will appreciate that this investigational work takes time and costs money, but this was one of the reasons behind the vote to lease the principal business area for 5 years.
We have met with our local Member of Parliament Chris Curtis MP and raised the poor public transport here. He outlined the City Council’s plan to introduce fast transport hubs which will include Grafton Street but was surprised to learn that although some buses are routed along Millers Way to Grafton Street, they did not stop at our 2 bus stops. We also raised the contentious issue of poor parking and the proposal pre Covid to yellow line some junctions. These are matters which he has taken away to raise with the City Council.
He has expressed an interest in meeting with residents in an open forum and we have suggested possibly arranging a meeting on a Sunday morning in the function room. We need to agree some possible dates with Robin and Lynn to share with him. He has also expressed an interest in holding an occasional surgery here although anyone wishing to see him would need to make an appointment.
We have also been approached by our local PCSO Richard Bolt who attended our last Trustee meeting. He has also expressed an interest in being invited to the next open meeting so that he can introduce himself and become a point of contact for residents experiencing any anti-social behaviour.
For anyone interested a Bollywood dance class is starting in the function room from Tuesday 7th January at 10.30am. The weekly sessions will cost £10.00, and you pay as you go. Hopefully, you will grab a coffee afterwards in the café and get to know your fellow classmates.
Most importantly, as expressed at our OGM in September we are keen to keep you abreast of our financial position. What we can confirm is that RPM Ltd is now on a much more secure financial footing than at the end of 2023. This is our year end and as soon as our books are closed, we will issue the 4th quarter management accounts. These should be available on our website by mid-February 2025.
Please feel free to get in touch if you have any queries or questions and can I remind you we still have a Trustee vacancy. We are happy for anyone to attend Trustee meetings to find out what is going on. Just email admin@romanpark.co.uk and we will send you the date, time and venue
Regards Sharon
Chair