We’re having our annual Christmas Carol Party on Thursday, 13th December at 6:45pm. All square residents and their guests are welcome to come and enjoy the mulled wine and minced pies… just bring your singing voice.
As in previous years the Salvation Army Band has kindly agreed to come and play we have invited a group of soldiers from the Hyde Park Barracks to supplement our singing efforts.
In May of this year we commissioned a survey of all our trees to see if any were in poor condition. A tree in poor condition could lose branches during stormy weather and cause property damage or injure someone.
The survey was undertaken by Keith MacGregor who has extensive experience in tree management. He holds a diploma in Arboriculture from the Royal Forestry Society – the top professional, vocational, qualification for those working in arboriculture.
The conclusion of the report was that the trees were mostly in excellent health but that the London Planes needed to be inspected further for Masaria Disease. This inspection will be carried out when the trees have dropped their leaves.
Here is a map of all our trees (CLICK to enlarge):
A source at Westminster City Council recently told me that two of the houses in the square have reported the presence of bats in Montpelier Square over the summer. Bats are protected species in the UK and any confirmed sighting of bats places an onus on the landowner to take account of their welfare in all future actions.
As earlier reported, we are currently applying for planning permission for our night-time lighting of the trees. If indeed we did have bats in the square then we would have to prove that the lights do not adversely affect them.
To find out if we had any heretofore unsuspected nocturnal denizens we commissioned a bat survey from Alison Fure (website). Alison has conducted bat surveys in the local area a number of times in the recent past.
Alison did not find any evidence of bats roosting in the square but she did still recommend that the lights be switched off in the summer months to protect any passing bats during the breeding season.
It is also worth noting that, using a light meter, she could not detect any change in ambient light levels with the garden lights on or off.
Her report: Bat Survey (PDF)
To all residents of Montpelier Square:
Please join us
for a convivial evening of drinks, nibbles and conversation
on
Thursday, 5th July
6:30 – 8:00pm
We will be dedicating a plaque beneath the newly planted jubilee tree.
Please RSVP to
The results are in! We had asked how many residents supported applying for planning permission for the night-time light of the trees and, of those who voted, 80% voted yes.
We received 16 replies in total: 13 in favour, 3 against. We also had one reply that had a comment but no vote.
We have about 50 houses on the Square but about 10 are empty or being refurbished. 16 replies out of 40 isn’t too bad and we’re pleased that the voting went in favour of the proposal to keep the lights and make the planning application.
The forms will be submitted to Westminster City Council next week.
Our annual residents meeting was held on 26th March at the Montpeliano restaurant, with light refreshments being provided.
Highlights:
Next year’s meeting will be in March 2013.
Attached: AGM Minutes 26.3.12
At the AGM last year we voted to update our Byelaws as the old version dates from 1959 and is showing its age.
The version of the new Byelaws that was voted on and has now been approved by a Crown Court, with the help of Pemberton Greenish, solicitors. His Honour judge Nicholas Price QC has reviewed and confirmed them as being in accordance with the Act of 1863 which governs our square garden.
Download a signed copy today!
On Thursday last, Feb 16th, a fire broke out in No.7 Montpelier Square.
The property was badly damaged but thankfully no-one was injured.
Twenty firefighters were on hand to tackle the blaze which took almost two hours to get under control. Their prompt efforts are to be applauded as the fire was contained and no damage occurred to the adjoining houses.
Someone posted a youtube video…
The precept charge for 2012/2013 will be £604.50 per house. The total charge is £28,000. This is a fall of 20% compared to the charge for the current year.
Uniquely in the borough of Westminster, our precept charge is added to the council tax demands sent to each house on the Square. (We are our own line-item in the annual accounts of the city council.) Westminster is thus responsible for collecting our annual maintenance fees. This may be very convenient but we pay a charge of 4% for this service because they assume a collection rate of 96%.
Most houses on the square are in Council Tax Band H (the highest) and these houses will pay £634.50 next year. Houses in lower bands or carrying partial or complete exemptions will pay correspondingly less. The consequence of these exemptions is that although there are 52 properties on the square (48 in Band H, 3 in band G and 1 in Band D) the effective costing approximates to 45 houses.
We had a great evening last Monday at our annual Christmas Carol party. The relatively mild weather led to a strong turnout and no doubt even more were encouraged to drop in when the Salvation Army Band struck up at 6:45. A crowd of at least fifty enjoyed the mince pies and excellent mulled wine.
Our carol singing efforts, somewhat paltry in previous years, were lifted by the presence of a dozen or more soldiers from the Blues and Royals stationed at Hyde Park Barracks. All our thanks go to Captain Alex Owen and his men without whom the Salvation Army Band might have been on their own, musically speaking. All they asked in return was a little mulled wine to keep away the cold.
Continue reading Great Turnout at Christmas Carols Party
