The Trust

Turnpike Hill Trust: Information for Proprietors

WHAT IS THE TURNPIKE HILL ESTATE?

In the late 1960s Wates re-developed an area of Park Hill and created a housing estate which became Turnpike Link and Leyburn Gardens. The estate comprises 311 dwellings, which are either freehold houses, leasehold flats or leasehold maisonettes. The boundary of the estate is not easy to see on the ground but is indicated on the plan on the website. Pedder (then Wates) handed over to HSBC Trust Co (UK) Ltd (then called Midland Bank) ownership of the land between the houses, flats and maisonettes. This means the estate is private, and that the roads and paths are NOT adopted by Croydon Council. All services on the communal land are paid for by the owners of the dwellings and not through Council Tax.

WHAT IS TURNPIKE HILL TRUST?

Under a Trust Instrument signed in 1966, Wates arranged for the communal land owned by HSBC to be managed, in the common interest of the owners of the dwellings, by Managing Trustees of Turnpike Hill Trust. Each owner of one of the dwellings needs a legal right to cross Trust land to get to his or her dwelling. This is conferred by an equitable interest in a 1/311th share of the Trust property. When you acquired your dwelling this share should have been assigned to you by the previous owner and by this means you should have become what the Trust Instrument terms a “proprietor”.

WHAT ARE THE DUTIES OF THE MANAGING TRUSTEES?

The Trust is run by volunteer Managing Trustees who are proprietors and usually resident on the estate. We are elected at Ordinary General Meetings or co-opted when a Trustee resigns. Our names are given in Newsletters and appear on the website along with some background information on us. We are accountable to you and report back formally at Ordinary General Meetings currently held every three years. If a dwelling is let, we deal with you, i.e. with the owner of the dwelling. We meet frequently, and have been currently meeting monthly due to the number of projects at the moment.

In the words of the Trust Instrument we “shall manage the Trust premises in the common interest of the proprietors and in particular shall maintain in good order the community land" (i.e. the land owned by the Trust). In a nutshell, the Trust looks after the:

roads and footpaths (maintenance and sweeping)

gardens/lawns/trees

water supply to garage compounds

storm water drains and gulley's

foul sewers between residents' property and the main sewers

lighting of streets and paths

signs/street furniture

walls and;

parking

Our task is to determine the policy for the administration of the estate and to appoint and monitor Managing Agents who arrange what needs to be done on the communal land, find suppliers, arrange for the works to be done, and to arrange payment. HML Andertons Ltd are our current appointed Managing Agents.

HOW TO CONTACT THE TRUST

Please contact in the first instance the Managing Agents, at:

HML Andertons Ltd

94 Park Lane,

Croydon, Surrey,

CR0 1JB

Telephone: 0330 300 0002

Email: info@hmlandertons.com

The Trustees permanent address for letters is:

PO Box 291,

Croydon,

CR9 5DH

The Trust has a webpage at www.turnpike.org.uk

If you have a problem with the communal land which you are unable to resolve with the Managing Agents, please contact the Trustees at the above address or via the managing agents.

CONTACTING PROPRIETORS

The Managing Agents and we will contact you at the property address, normally by e-mail where you have supplied a current e-mail address or by hand-delivered or posted letters. However as around one third of properties on the estate are let by their owners, please tell us an alternative postal address (either in the UK or abroad). If you are a proprietor and your property is let, it is your responsibility to ensure that your tenants understand and respect the management of the communal land.

WHAT THE TRUST IS NOT

It must be emphasised that the Trust is not a residents association, and can only deal with matters affecting Trust property. There is an association in the area, the Park Hill Residents' Association, which publishes a periodic Newsletter. We have no responsibilities for maintaining the dwellings and theri associated garages and cannot be arbiters in disputes between residents. Please remember too the limitations of the Trust responsibilities, and that we are volunteers. For complaints about all the usual services, post, electricity, gas, telephone, water supply, rubbish collection, contact the utility concerned direct. Only blocked connecting sewers and failed lighting are matters for the Trust, and you should report these to the Managing Agents.

HOW IS THE TRUST FINANCED?

Works are paid for from an annual charge known as the “Garden Rate”. The amount is fixed at Ordinary General Meetings held every three years when a budget for the ensuing three years is approved. The Garden Rate is payable in a single sum in advance before 31st December of the preceding year. The Managing Agents will send you by 15 November each year a demand for the following year. In fairness to all, we use all means necessary (including the County Court) to ensure that everyone of you pays your Garden Rate. A late payment charge is levied on any Garden Rate not paid by 31 December.

WHO CAN USE THE TRUST LAND?

In general you, including your families and visitors, can use any part of the Trust land. Clearly there must be a degree of self help and goodwill. We would ask that children do not stage football, cricket or similar matches but that you accept that younger children do have a right to play simple games. Cycling on the paths can be dangerous, and at no time should children try and play in the road. There are signs in the garage compounds saying "No ball games".

MANAGEMENT OF PLANTED AREAS

We engage contractors to maintain the gardens and mow the lawns at regular intervals. We manage the trees in accordance with a tree survey undertaken annually by the contractor. In addition to regular maintenance, we arrange for shrubs and trees to be replaced when necessary. It is our policy to plant trees and shrubs that combine with those that are already growing but which require the minimum of maintenance.

USE OF THE ROADS

In managing the roads, we have the following objectives:

Maximising parking space for proprietors and bona fide visitors

Minimising dangerous parking by reducing danger spots

Improving the appearance of the estate by removing abandoned vehicles

Preserving the private nature of the roads through discouraging parking by those who have no connection with the estate.

Please see the Parking Permit Rules, Parking Guidelines & Parking permits Frequently Asked Questions of the website for further details.

CLEARING/CLEANING OF ROADS AND PATHS

The principal estate contractor is also responsible for sweeping the roads and paths. The Managing Agents will arrange for steps, slopes and paths to be cleared of snow as soon as practical after a snow fall. Croydon Council are not involved. You can help by clearing areas near your dwellings. A sand/salt mixture to spread on paths is contained in nine moulded green plastic bins. They are sited as follows:

Leyburn Gardens

behind No. 18

in the garages at the top, east side

Turnpike Link

By No. 33

Opposite No. 77

By garages in front of No. 91

At the side of No. 90

In front of No. 148

Behind No. 215

In front of No. 227

BUILDING WORKS

Maintenance and repair of brick work, retaining walls (including steps) all paved surfaces, and roads and garage compounds is an ongoing concern requiring increasing expenditure as the estate gets older and the infrastructure wears out. The order of priority is the safety of all users of Trust land, functional efficiency – e.g. containment of planted areas – and maintaining the visual integrity of the estate. Roofing and associated roof drainage over common parts of garage compounds requires maintenance and renewal from time to time. Upkeep of the gates at three major entrances to the estate is necessary to restrict vehicle access from time to time.

LONG TERM REPAIRS

We maintain a reserve to pay for the resurfacing of both the roads and tarmac paths at approximately twenty year intervals.

WATER SUPPLIES

Stopcocks and water meters are situated in the paths outside homes. It is the responsibility of Thames Water to maintain them, but the pipe from the stopcock or meter into your home belongs to the owner of the dwelling who is responsible for maintaining it. Any Trust land which is disturbed in the process of installation or repair should be restored to its previous condition. Owners whose garage is located in a standalone compound or behind maisonettes, need a key to the water tap. Please ask the Managing Agents for one if you do not have one. Lend it to contractors who need water for building works. To prevent damage to the pipes and taps, water to garage compounds is cut off in the depths of winter (normally 1 December to end March).

MANAGING GARAGE COMPOUNDS

Please do not park in garage forecourts (see Parking Permit Rules) or put oil in garage drains as they are expensive to clean.

SECURITY AND MISBEHAVIOUR

We get complaints from time to time about rowdy behaviour by outsiders coming onto the estate. In theory, as this is a private estate, such outsiders are trespassing. But that is not a crime (and therefore not a police matter), only a civil matter. The Trust's remedy in law would be to seek damages or an injunction not to do it in future, and that remedy would be available only to the extent Trust property was affected. To the extent your property or comfort of individual proprietors was affected, you would have to seek a remedy yourselves. But the theory would be costly to invoke in practice and we would be reluctant to spend Trust funds and hence your money in embarking on costly Court proceedings. So the only practical remedy is for residents to tell noisy outsiders to go away or/and to report serious incidents to Metropolitan Police Fairfield Safer Neighbourhoods Team, 71 Park Lane, Croydon, CR9 1BP (Tel: 020 8649 0213; e-mail croydonfairfield.snt@met.police.uk ). Community Support Officers of the Metropolitan Police do patrol the estate, mostly during daylight hours.

HELP IN RUNNING THE ESTATE

Offers of assistance are always welcome. If you are interested in knowing more about being a Trustee, please contact the Managing Trustees.

COVENANTS

We would emphasise-that we are not able to do anything about Covenants that you will have entered into on the purchase of your property, e.g. agreement not to alter the external appearance of buildings, to erect further ones, to use them for other than private homes. We have been advised that only individual owners can enforce the Covenants.

WHEN YOU SELL YOUR PROPERTY

When you move from the estate, please:

Ensure your solicitor has arranged for you to assign to your purchaser your interest in 1/311th share in the Trust premises (see page one). This is all too often overlooked.

Complete and send the form below to the Managing Agents so that the Trust does not send you Garden Rate demands or newsletters.

Note that there is a £40 charge from HSBC for adding a proprietor to a register.