NEWSLETTER

December 2013

Chairman’s Report
Over the last few months several of you have raised queries with Committee Members on two subjects , the new legislation on selling homes and an old subject, trees on the park and who is responsible for what.

I will start with trees. In our March Newsletter, we gave you updated advice on what would be happening with regard to the trees and what you should do if you are concerned about a tree in your garden or near your home. The procedure now is that you should write a letter to the park office stating your concern. That letter will be referred to Head Office who will seek the advice of the Consultants who are contracted to look after trees on all of Berkeley Leisure Parks. If your concern is agreed, you will be advised by Head Office. However, it is most important that we all understand that it is only indigenous trees which are either dead, diseased or dying that will be dealt with by the park. If the tree in question just requires lopping or is a tree planted by a resident (even a previous resident) then the cost is unlikely to be met by the park. You are, of course, entitled to apply directly to the Planning Officer at Mid Sussex District Council, for which there is no cost, obtain his advice and then pass it on to the office.

The new Legislation. You do not now have to seek the approval of the park before you put your home on the market. The seller is, however, now responsible for ensuring that the buyer is fully aware of the Park Rules and meets the criteria for residency on the park. There are four forms to be completed as the selling process goes through. The Government have produced a ‘fact pack’ that takes you through each stage of the process and advises on your rights as well as the information to be provided. Berkeley Parks also provided a flow chart leaflet for each home which was included with a letter sent earlier in the year. This was also produced by the Government. Each form is designed to be completed at individual stages of the selling process. Forms and the ‘fact pack’ can be downloaded from www.gov.uk/park-homes-guidance The fact pack and examples of the forms are also on the Resident Association web site www.thpra.co.uk or, if you prefer, we have paper copies including a copy of the ‘fact pack’. We will also be happy to help you through the form filling process. In addition, we are advised that forms are available from the office. There have also been some queries regarding the payment of the 10% commission. This is now payable by the purchaser, not by the person selling the home. The forms and the ‘fact pack’ make it clear that the seller is entitled to 90% of the sale price with the buyer retaining 10% to be paid to the park owner. The form that relates to this part of the process does not print well and has caused some concern as it requests details of the sale price ‘received’ . The forms are prescribed and, therefore, cannot be altered but you may add a note if wished and initial it, stating that it is minus commission. We have discussed this with Head Office and IPHAS who are in agreement.

It is good to see so many homes with sold signs and we look forward to meeting new residents.

With this Newsletter is also a form to complete as a Petition to our local MP, Francis Maude. This Petition refers to further legislation due to come into effect in April 2014 which will give Local Authorities greater powers with regard to the licensing of parks and also allow them to charge a licence fee. Our advisors have been told that this legislation will allow park owners to ‘pass on any licence fee in our pitch fee reviews, but only once’. This will not affect Turners Hill Park until 2015. Some of us, including your District Councillor, have attended three forums in various parts of Southern England where we have challenged this ruling as we feel strongly that the interpretation of the legislation is not only wrong but grossly unfair. We have also discussed this matter with Mid Sussex District regarding the possible sums involved but, to date, they still wait for guidance from the Government. We are, therefore, presently in the dark. As soon as we have any further information we will let you know.

We now need your help and urge you all to complete the Petition form and return it to our MP. We are happy for you to pop the form either through my door or into Linda Furzers letter box and we will post them on. This is important and affects us all.

Other Matters
You will read further on that we have had some good news and also news on our very active speed watchers. West Sussex have now advised that provision of red tarmac on the road in front of the park is unlikely and we still wait for news on the promised speed signs.

I would like to wish every resident a very Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for 2014.

 

Speedwatch
Speeding whilst driving is a very emotional subject. Although most people accept criticism, some drivers believe that speeding becomes acceptable when they are in a hurry and any suggestion that this creates danger to pedestrians and other road users is ignored. Unfortunately, most drivers never have their driving ability checked after passing their test and, over time, bad habits and bad judgement can be assimilated into their normal behaviour behind the wheel.
Police sponsored Community Speed Watch [CSW] is a scheme to encourage people to reduce speeding traffic through their community and enables volunteers to work locally to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding and poor driving, promoting safer driving through education rather than prosecution. CSW does not operate speed traps, but checks speed. The details of cars exceeding the speed limit over a reasonable margin are recorded on Sussex Police Operation Crackdowns’ database and letters of advice are sent to the registered owner by the police.

There are currently four volunteers from Turners Hill Park who have been trained and carry out regular speed checks on the 40mph restricted section of East Street near the entrance to our park. They recently joined other established and successful CSW groups in our community. SW is neither anti-car nor is it a pressure group. It is not political and its aim is to reduce the number of deaths and injuries on our roads. Next time you see two of our members at the side of the road in yellow reflective jackets with a speed meter at the ready, please ensure you get a smile from us rather than a police letter! Safe Driving.
Author: Geoff Gant

Does the Park Owner Have to Clear Icy Roads?
This is a copy of an article which IPHAS has put on their website and we hope you find it interesting and informative:-

“It is a commonly held belief that by NOT clearing or gritting paths or roads, a property owner cannot be liable for accidents because the snow and ice is an act of nature and beyond his control. But please note that this refers to public paths in front of premises. Therefore, it does not apply to park owners because they own the roads and paths on the park. There is no specific legal obligation on park owners to grit roads or footpaths. But the park owners have a general duty of care under the Occupier’s Liability Act to ensure that the park is reasonably safe for residents and their visitors. If a resident is injured in a fall on an icy road, he/she can sue the park owner whether he has gritted the roads or not and the park owner would have to show the court that he has taken reasonable action to reduce the danger. The general rule is that the park owner should do something to met his obligations to provide a duty of care to residents and their visitors either by providing grit in strategically placed bins or by displaying warning signs and/or clearing some roads and paths as far as he is able and can be reasonably expected to do so. However, the effects of weather are outside his control and it would be unreasonable to expect the roads to be kept completely clear throughout adverse, snowy or icy conditions. In the event of a resident being injured in a fall on an icy road, he/she could sue the park owner but would have to prove to the court that the park owner had negligently failed to make the roads as safe as could be reasonably expected.”

Residents Association of the Year.
We are absolutely delighted to report that our Residents Association was one of the Runners Up in a nationwide Residents Association of the Year Competition. Not bad for a first attempt. We were presented with our prize cheque by the Organisers at the end of October and photographs were taken. If we haven’t broken the photographer’s camera, we will try to get a photo in the next available edition of the Parish Magazine. The prize money is being held in our account and what is to be done with it is under discussion.

Parking Outside the Hotel
It has been noticed that there has been a vast increase in the amount of delivery vehicles parking outside the Hotel at the entrance to our Park. If you have found it difficult to manoeuvre in and out of the park due to parking, then please contact The Duty Manager on 01342-714914 and he will investigate the matter.

Hospital/Doctor/Dentist Appointments
Please remember that, if you need transport to any of the above, you can ring the Bluebird Community Transport on 01444-471919 or Crawley Community Transport on 01293-657080. There will, of course, be a charge involved but you may find that it is cheaper than public transport.

Volunteer before Christmas!
Having started a Speedwatch group on the Park, we need more volunteers who can be available just once every two weeks for about an hour to monitor traffic speeds near the entrance to the park. Full training will be given. Also, we want to form a group of volunteers to be available in case of emergencies on the park. This would mainly be at weekends when Park staff would not normally be on duty.
Please contact Geoff Gant, 18 Woodpecker Way, 01342 713581 if you can help.

The Shop on the Park
Once again the Residents Committee has been asked to request residents to use the Park Shop. We did have problems in the past when the shop closed and we really do not want a recurrence. Please, when you can, do a little shopping here on the park. If we don’t use it, we lose it.

Park Office Christmas & New Year Closure
The park office will be closed for the Christmas and New Year break from Friday 20th December 2013 until Thursday 2nd January 2014. In emergencies you should call the office number, which will automatically be transferred to the Park Manager.

Residents New Website
Your Residents Association announces the launch of its website www.thpra.co.uk The aims of the website are simple, we want to provide a place where computer users can easily retrieve a variety of information relevant to Park Home living at Turners Hill.

The website is updated frequently so, if you would like anything added then just use the contact details on the site or email Geoff Gant [geoff.gant@yahoo.co.uk] and who is responsible for what it contains.