by John Green
To make sure that the overall character of the Estate is maintained, the Company has been applying the same policy for approving alterations as the previous owner. As we reported in the last newsletter, we want to look again at the policy to see if we need to make changes. As a first step, we sent out a questionnaire to all residents so that you could tell us what you think.
Now that we have the replies, we could just take the totals for each question and use these to influence any policy change. However, with just one third of residents sending in a completed questionnaire, we have to judge whether this is a representative sample of all residents. However, it is not too late to let us know what you think as we are still happy to accept completed questionnaires.
Some of the respondents also made full use of the comments boxes, and some of these replies have given us food for thought. While it is taking some time to analyse all the results, we can at least see that not everyone understands our role. As part of our future strategy, we therefore need to make sure that we clearly communicate that the Company is a separate entity from the Residents Association. As a first step, we have added an explanation of the difference between HCERA and HCEL to the Welcome tab of the website at: www.herbertcollins.co.uk/welcome/hcera-or-hcel-whats-the-difference/
While we work on developing our own policy, we are treating each request to make alterations on its merits, based on the current policy published on the Herbert Collins Estates Ltd web pages. It is worth reminding all residents that the Company approval for alterations is in addition to the statutory requirements of the Government and Local Authority. To avoid any later misunderstanding, contacting the Company for advice and guidance before formal plans are drawn up is a worthwhile exercise, and time well spent.
Web page: www.herbertcollins.co.uk/hcel