Management fees in Charlesland Park

matwijow

Hi, just home from visiting my brother in his new house in CL Park - he briefly mentioned as we were leaving something about an annual management charge - maybe I misunderstood him but he lives in a house not an apartment, why would he have to pay a management charge?? Is it not the intention to hand the estate over to the local authority for it to be taken in charge.

CathD

matwijow wrote:

Hi, just home from visiting my brother in his new house in CL Park - he briefly mentioned as we were leaving something about an annual management charge - maybe I misunderstood him but he lives in a house not an apartment, why would he have to pay a management charge?? Is it not the intention to hand the estate over to the local authority for it to be taken in charge.

Who knows when it will be handed over, if ever. Until then, all homes in the Charlesland Estate have to contribute towards upkeep of the roads, green areas etc. Dick Roche stated that all estates should be taken over, WCC claim not to have the resources. I might be mistaken, but I think it can't be taken over until the last property has been sold, and there are a few still in the ownership of the developer?

Hammiepeters

Yes, our wonderful minister for the envoironment, Mr Dick Roche, raised the matter last year and then ran away from it, which is what Dick Roche does best. He also raised the possibility that rock and tree cams would be put in beauty spots to monitor illegal dumps. If you go over to the trout stream next to Burnaby Lawns, you will have to be careful not to step on one(there are so many) and also at the back of sugarloaf where a nice travelling family spend each summer. I really hope Dick keeps his job when the Greens join with FF. It's so obvious that everyone who voted for him knew just how good a job he does for Wicklow.

matwijow

Thanks for the reply - seems a hell of a lot of money to cut the grass and the upkeep of the roads shouldn't be an issue for a long time if they were built properly in the first place - seems like an extra masive rip off on top of an already ripped off market. I had heard about these charges before but thought they only related to management in apartment buildings where there is obvious upkeep issues and waste management etc but in a house on a normal estate seems ott in my humble opinion.

matwijow

ps in relation to WCC saying they dont have the resources - they would have cleaned up on levy monies from the developer on the estate so they couldnt possibly be crying the poor mouth!

fishdog

I was told by a number of people living in Charlesland that management fees are here to stay. Wicklow county council are never taking it over. I know of estates where they have been paying fo over 20 years now with no light at the end of the tunnel.

matwijow

I understood that the Planning & Development Act (think it was 2001) did away with the Councils running away from their responsibilities when it came to taking estates in charge and that there was a max of 7 yrs from the building of an estate and then the council had to take it. I mean how come they can get away with granting permission for massive developments, levy charges against the developer( which the developer passes on to the house buyer) for services and then say sorry no money to take it in charge. I think its a bit much?

fishdog

I live in an estate not far from Charlesland, the developer assured us that Wicklow County Council would take over within a very short period. I wont bore you with all of the details, but as part of a residence association we got to meet a very helpful local counciler. We were having lots of different poblems with the developer and he advised us and was great for information.

Anyway he made it clear to us that if we got Wicklow Co. Co. to take over within the next 20 years we were doing very well!! He metioned various other local estates that have been unsucessfull in trying to get Wicklow Co. Co. to take over. They have been at it for over 20 years!! I was suprised, but the more we looked into it the more normal it seems to be.

It appears that it is like a condition for granting planning permission. The council really do not want the headache of more estates to maintain.

matwijow

I had a quick look at the P&D Act 200 and under section 280 the local authority must take an estate in charge when it has been finished to Local Authority standards and an be demanded by plebiscite by a majority of residents - I also found these few questions recently raised in the Dail that may be of interest:

http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=DAL20060517.xml&Dail=29&Ex=All&Page=38

always worth hassling your local tds or councillors, whats the point of legislation if its not complied with. Why levy developers if councils are not going to take over? I know it may sound naiive but thats the law of the land!

fishdog

matwijow, I hear what you are saying. I went to Wicklow Co. Co. myself and talked directly to them. It was like banging my head off a brick wall! If you believe you can change the system, go ahead I wish you the very best of luck! God knows I tried!!

If you are going to try anything get on to local councillers. The local counciller we used is Tom Fortune, he is very helpful. Home: 01-2488195
Work: 01-2876135 Mobile: 086-2488195. Tom puts these numbers on the internet himself so dont worry this is not private information. We were having serious trouble with the developer (not finishing etc.) Tom appllied alot of pressure (sucessfully to a large extent). I agree with you, it may be the law, but in the real world Wicklow Co. Co. will not take over within the next twenty years (if ever). We were told this in no uncertain terms. It is not to their advantage, they told us they could not afford it and they had too much to do already!

Thousands of people locally are paying these fees, this is costing millions! If there was a way out of paying management fees it would be done by now. I would imagine there are quite a few legal people living in Charlesland that have looked at this.

matwijow

I also hear ya Fishdog! And believe me if I lived there I would be rallying the troops, just glad I'm not caught in the trap of having to pay the fees. BUT whether its not to WCC's advantage or not is neither here nor there - its not to my advantage to pay my taxes but I have to!! What's needed is enmasse protest e.g I was looking at the boards forum on Charlesland and noticed all the people compaining abut the new development behind CL Park for new apartment blocks but when I checked out WCC planning objections to the plans there are only 8! People need to shout a little louder. Its a shame but its a fact that people just cant be bothered as they think its not worth their while. I dont live there myself but I'll be getting onto my brother about getting down to WCC quick smart

fishdog

matwijow, great attitude!

I am sure I sounded very negative, but what I said is true! Of course you are correct, we pay taxes we should not be paying a management fee of hundreds of euro for someone to cut a strip of grass and change a few light bulbs!! This amounts to double taxation, and it is a rip off.

If you seriously want to fight it, fair play I will give you a hand!

I think getting a petition together would be a good start, a few more volunteers and I think we should be able to collect a lot of signatures in CL alone.

Then carefully write a letter and email it to every TD and councillor. I was involved in something like this recently and we got a positive result.

It is worth a try, what do you think??? Or should we just give up now and pay more and more for a crap service each year????? I say lets grab them by b*lls :eek: and go fo it!!

Marcais

matwijow wrote:

ps in relation to WCC saying they dont have the resources - they would have cleaned up on levy monies from the developer on the estate so they couldnt possibly be crying the poor mouth![/QUOTE]

They are.

fishdog

I know, but the question is are you prepared to do anything about it???

mikedragon32

I'm locking this thread. It relates to Management fees for Charlesland and two people who aren't even from the estate trying to spur its residents into action.

I don't know what the objective is, but any further generic Managment Fee issues should be posted in the Accommodation & Property forum here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=38