Comments - CITY CORPORATION CONTINUES TO FAIL RESIDENTS - goldenlaneestate.org2024-03-29T07:31:55Zhttp://goldenlaneestate.org/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=2323372%3ABlogPost%3A75037&xn_auth=noIn a recent email to us in Ha…tag:goldenlaneestate.org,2020-04-28:2323372:Comment:749632020-04-28T10:45:17.957ZAnna Parkinsonhttp://goldenlaneestate.org/profile/AnnaParkinson
<div class=""><span>In a recent email to us in Hatfield House, Andrew Carter advised:</span></div>
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<div class=""><span>"We have asked ISg to be as considerate as they possibly can in terms of noise from the site, operatives arriving and departing from it and to avoid any unnecessary noise. </span><span>I think you will see that the number of works on site over the next few weeks will be considerably reduced."</span></div>
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<div class="">After…</div>
<div class=""><span>In a recent email to us in Hatfield House, Andrew Carter advised:</span></div>
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<div class=""><span>"We have asked ISg to be as considerate as they possibly can in terms of noise from the site, operatives arriving and departing from it and to avoid any unnecessary noise. </span><span>I think you will see that the number of works on site over the next few weeks will be considerably reduced."</span></div>
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<div class="">After experiencing the noise from yesterday morning's extreme metal bashing, our response to him was: </div>
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<div class="">We are pleased you have asked ISG to be as considerate as possible, however the evidence on the ground is otherwise. Yesterday, we were subjected to relentless crashes and metallic banging noises reverberating off surrounding buildings for an hour during the morning ‘reduced impact’ period. I called both site ‘emergency’ numbers and received an ‘out of office' voicemail message from both. I called the Colpai team number published on their communications and was told someone would call me back. They haven’t. I called the other published number for Paul Murtagh and was told he would call back. He hasn’t. The Community Nurse came [to our medically vulnerable son] to take regular blood samples and couldn’t find anywhere to park near our flat, adding to her stress and delaying her essential work. The dust from the building site continues to coat everything on our balcony and our windows haven’t been cleaned in months despite a firm promise at the last consultation meeting before the lockdown.</div>
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<div class="">These are just a few examples of many daily frustrations that the operations on site are inflicting on us and our neighbours. And remember we cannot escape these during the lockdown.</div>
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<div class="">Please urge your members to reconsider the decision to continue work on site during the lockdown.</div> I too watched the virtual mee…tag:goldenlaneestate.org,2020-04-27:2323372:Comment:750922020-04-27T18:34:22.072ZTim Godsmarkhttp://goldenlaneestate.org/profile/TimGodsmark
<p>I too watched the virtual meeting and was surprised at the dismissive nature of the responses and the Chair's repeated attempts to close the debate down by saying 'we could make this discussion private'. Subsequently I sent him the following email. I have not as yet had a reply.</p>
<p><span>Dear Randall,</span></p>
<div class="">It was interesting to observe your virtual meeting today. I was disappointed by the discussion in relation to a suspension of works at the COLPAI site and felt that…</div>
<p>I too watched the virtual meeting and was surprised at the dismissive nature of the responses and the Chair's repeated attempts to close the debate down by saying 'we could make this discussion private'. Subsequently I sent him the following email. I have not as yet had a reply.</p>
<p><span>Dear Randall,</span></p>
<div class="">It was interesting to observe your virtual meeting today. I was disappointed by the discussion in relation to a suspension of works at the COLPAI site and felt that for a committee of elected representatives the issues did not get the scrutiny that they deserve.</div>
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<div class="">Further to the question from Common Councillor Sue Pearson about the advice received on whether it would be a breach of contract to suspend works it would go a long way to help with residents confidence that the City is looking after their interests if the advice could be published or circulated. I do not see why this needs to be kept confidential. I am afraid that I must disagree with you that the site will become ‘derelict’ if work is suspended. It did not do so for the previous suspension and there is little on site that can deteriorate unless left for perhaps several years.</div>
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<div class="">From your remarks I got the impression that the City were willing to suspend work but that ISG were refusing to do so. As you are no doubt aware a building contract can be amended by mutual consent so long as the contractor receives an Extension of Time for the period suspended and their costs for any preliminaries expended. Currently the site is working, we are told, with less than half the workforce and to social distancing rules so the contract will be delayed anyway. If an extension of time needs to be issued for this delay I would assume that ISG will be in a position to claim full preliminaries as the site setup is still functioning. As the preliminaries claimed will be at a lower rate if work is suspended there may not be a much greater cost to the City than there is anyway. A cost analysis needs to be carried out if one has not been done anyway.</div>
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<div class="">If ISG will not countenance suspending work then I would expect the City as the Employer under the Contract with the ultimate liability for site safety under the Construction Design Management Regulation 2015 to make sure that the guidance produced by the Construction Leadership Council and referenced by the <span class="">Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, is implemented in full. I attach the guidance below. I wrote to the COLPAI Team on 16th April but have yet to receive an answer. Residents in Basterfield House are daily seeing social distancing ignored and we can have little confidence that new measures are being adhered to unless they are policed properly. One suggestion is that the City employ a full time Clerk of Works with a remit to police site safety.</span></div>
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<div class=""><div class="">If there are 35 workers on site and we have been told that they are all travelling by private transport I would question where they are all parking as there is no evidence of this number of cars locally. You may also be interested to look at ISG’s website where, in a comments forum, there are comments from workers saying how reluctant they are to be forced to continue work and how any social distancing is being ignored.</div>
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<div class="">My main concern, and that of fellow residents, is that the City is putting cost over and above its moral and legal duty as a landlord to have a care for its tenants and also the workers employed on the site. The surrounding blocks have a large number of vulnerable residents and in continuing work while everyone is shut indoors can only have health implications and increase the strain on the NHS. I do not understand how the City can say that it is acting our best interests at this time.</div>
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<div class="">The workers should not have a significant loss of income from a suspension due to either the Government’s Job Retention Scheme or the scheme for the self-employed. At the same time this needs to be set against the adjacent residents many of whom will will be on these schemes with a loss of income or will have been made redundant and trying to get by on benefits. This may affect residents’ mental health and I asked the COLPAI team if a risk assessment had been carried out before work recommenced but got no reply.</div>
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<div class="">I have lived on the Golden Lane Estate for 17 years and in this time the City has not always acted in a manner that looks after tenant’s and leaseholders best interests. Unfortunately over the past ten years the impression has developed that it is not a responsible landlord and the lack of concern evidenced by the building work continuing reinforces this.</div>
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<div class="">Lastly actions resulting from the committee meeting that I hope to see are:</div>
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<li class="">Publish the legal advice why the site cannot be suspended without breaching the contract.</li>
<li class="">Let residents’ know the reasons given by ISG for insisting on continuing work.</li>
<li class="">Provide a proper cost analysis for committee members for the costs of suspending work as opposed to the current slower work.</li>
<li class="">Provide a risk assessment into the health of adjacent residents if work continues.</li>
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<div class="">Regards,</div>
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<div class="">Tim Godsmark</div>
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<div class="">I have also sent the COLPAI team a number of reasoned emails recently saying why the works should be suspended. Again I have not received a reply from them but have received a reply from our MP who has written to the Secretary of State for Business about work on construction sites continuing.</div>
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