April
2007
Welcome to the latest MCH RA
newsletter, it’s been a while but it’s back again with news on what the RA
committee have been up to for the last few months, some information on recent
and upcoming social events and a special offer just for MCH
residents!
RA
Committee Update
At the last RA meeting several new
volunteers were voted onto the committee, this increase in numbers, along with a
fall in the number of ongoing planning issues has meant we can now start work on
some of the suggestions made by RA members at the
meeting.
Membership
drive
Shortly before the last meeting the
RA had a recruitment drive, talking to people in reception to encourage them to
join the RA and asking them their views on what issues we should be tackling,
this got a lot of responses and along with the RA meeting enabled us to identify
some new areas to work on. It’s also help to get more residents involved in the
RA, this is very important as it’s the only way to ensure we have real power in
influencing decisions made by the management
company.
Double-glazing
One issue raised by many people was
the problem of MCH windows and their tendency to let heat out and noise in. Many
residents are wasting money on heating and several people commented on the
environmental impact this has. A group from the RA committee are working
on this issue, and are in the process of getting quotes for the cost of
replacing the current windows with double glazed aluminium
units.
Green
Audit
As well as the heat loss from the
windows, there are a number of other areas where RA members thought the
environmental impact of our building could be reduced. Another group from the
committee are investigating this. They have approached the council, various
energy companies and grant associations to get quotes for improving the energy
usage in the building and see if any grants may be available to help with the
cost. Some of the suggestions are solar panels on the roof, wind turbines, green
grass roofs and a CHP plant to generate our own heat and power. We are currently
waiting for feedback on feasibility and cost
Lighting
scheme
Another member of the committee
presented ideas at the last meeting for a new lighting scheme for the building,
the idea is to use some small coloured lights in the entrance and some other
communal areas of the building to give it a more welcoming feel. More research
is underway on this and we’ll report back at a future
meeting.
Building
survey
As you probably know MCH has built
up quite a big sinking fund in recent years, a large chunk of which is being
spent on the current external redecoration, but following the floods etc. of
last year residents had concerns that there could be other, more serious issues
with the building. The Committee has therefore held meetings with the management
company to request that a structural survey also be carried out, along with the
painting work, so that long-term plan for maintenance can be established and
we’ll hopefully avoid any nasty surprises in our service
charge.
Service
Charges
One issue that the RA have always
been involved in is the service charge. Currently we are considering hiring a
forensic accountant to go through our current and historical service charges to
establish where improvements can be made.
South
Block Entrance
More comments were made to the RA
about the entrance to the South Block including concerns about safety a member
of the RA has contacted the fire service and local health and safety officials
to review access to the block.
Website
We’re continuing to update the
website, it now shows the latest local news and carries all kinds of useful
information including tips on dealing with MCH original water heaters and
manuals for some of the storage heaters. There is also the MCH message board
where you can discuss all things MCH, offer items for sale
etc.
Please let us know of anything else
you think would make a good addition to the website, FAQ’s photo’s etc.
Socials
The Christmas party seems like a
long time ago now, but it was great to meet some new faces and share a bit of
festive cheer, it also gave us the opportunity to start a collection to get
Christmas gifts for the MCH staff, who help us out and sign for our parcels all
year round! Thanks to everyone who donated towards
that.
The next social event will the first
meeting of the dining club, on April 26th at the Laughing Gravy
restaurant. The dining club is an informal collection of residents who plan to
meet up and try out local restaurants or share their favorite discoveries with
others. If you’d like to come along on the 26th please let us know
ASAP, the table is already booked but it might be possible to squeeze in a
couple more people. If you can’t make it then you might want to take advantage
of the special MCH residents offer below:
**********************Special
offer for residents************************
We have agreed a
special restaurant offer for MCH Residents - present this newsletter at the
Lobster Pot restaurant, Kennington (10mins walk from MCH) and receive 10% off
your bill (any evening except their occasional themed evenings). The
Lobster Pot offers excellent French (Breton) seafood, plus some carnivorous and
vegetarian choices in lovely surroundings. For more details including menu
and reviews see www.lobsterpotrestaurant.co.uk/
Get
involved!
As you can see there is a lot going
on at the moment and we’d be very grateful for any help. Please get in touch if
you have an interest in any of the issues above, you don’t necessarily need to
join the committee, just lending a hand on a specific issue would be very
welcome.
Contribute
to the newsletter-
We are also still looking for any
contributions to this newsletter, photos, announcements, reviews of local
restaurants, interesting websites - anything you’d like to share with the
rest of MCH
You can contact the committee via the postbox under
the RA notice board opposite reception or by email through the
website.