Category: Residents Management Company

Grounds Maintenance Contract

The Grounds Maintenance contract with Channels Estates was due to expire at the end of February however given the recent change of managing agent, directors have agreed that the contract should be extended by four months to 30th June 2021.

Extending the term ties in with the Service Charge Year End, it will be clear by then if the initial contract with Remus has been successful and it gives time for directors to fully consider how to move forward including putting the service out to full tender to demonstrate best value. The contract extension was discussed with Remus who have advised it would be a sensible course of action.

Directors recognise the risk of not knowing the cost of a potential future contract prior to the 2021/22 budget being set however the risk is considered small as there is no expectation that the cost should exceed the current budgeted sum.

Channels Estates has accepted the contract extension on the same price terms however we will work with Remus to review the agreement in place to ensure any issues can be managed effectively over the coming months.

Andrew Wright
For and on behalf of CCMC Ltd Directors

AGM Postponement

The last Annual General Meeting was held on Thursday 9th January 2020 and ordinarily it would now be time to call the next meeting. However as three directors have only been in post since September, as we have just changed over managing agent and as we have some other key matters that all directors are involved in, the decision has been taken that we will not hold a General Meeting this January.

There is no legal need for a limited company to hold an Annual General Meeting, unless the Articles of Association require the company to do so and the constitution of CCMC Ltd does not specify that one must be held.

The accounts for the 2019/20 Service Charge Year (to 30th June 2020) are being prepared by POD however there have been a number of queries that we are waiting for answers on. Once the draft accounts have been approved by directors they will be sent for final checking by external accountants and will be included in a Chairs report to be published in due course.

Directors will arrange a residents meeting following publication of the Chairs report and we will also push for Channels Management Company (now a Community Interest Company) to hold the development wide residents meeting that was promised so that some of the broader estate-wide issues that have come to light recently can be discussed.

A formal General Meeting will be held as we approach the 2020/21 Service Charge year end.

Andrew Wright
For and on behalf of CCMC Ltd Directors

New Managing Agent

Remus officially started as our new managing agent from 1st January. Welcome letters were sent out week commencing 21st December and please do make every effort to return the information requested so that Remus has the most up to date contact details for you.

The best way to contact Remus is outlined here to ensure that directors are copied in to all issues and can follow up if required.

Happy New Year!

Logging Queries & Issues


To assist with the handover from POD Management to Remus, and to ensure that directors are fully sighted on everything, residents are strongly encouraged to use the CCMC website as the primary method for logging queries, concerns or issues from 1st January 2021.

By logging issues via the CCMC website, information will be sent automatically to the appropriate stakeholder for action and copied to directors for information. This will provide directors with an audit trail to ensure that issues are being followed up and dealt with appropriately.

There are four categories under which queries, concerns or issues can be logged and there is a simple form to complete which will be submitted to the appropriate stakeholder for action:

In most cases it will the responsibility of the managing agent to deal with and close down issues however directors may additionally contact residents directly to confirm that issues have been resolved and that no further action is necessary.

Links to each of the forms can be found on the Estate Issues page:

Residents can of course contact the managing agent directly however directors will not have an automatic record of issues logged in this way so unless there is an urgent concern, the recommended course of action is submission via this website.

Andrew Wright
For and on behalf of CCMC Ltd Directors

Service Charge Update


Further to the update provided at last weeks residents meeting, and following further discussion with POD, credits in relation to the estate-wide service charge have now been applied to resident accounts. The total credit amounts to just under £200 per resident (pro rata as necessary) which is in line with the original instruction given to POD in July.

Information about the investigation into site-wide expenditure, as originally notified to residents in July 2020, can be found here.

If there are outstanding balances remaining on accounts after the credits are applied, this will be flagged with a request to pay the balance accordingly. As noted at the residents meeting, there are some balances that are considered so large (over 2 years) that formal debt recovery will begin should the balances not be immediately paid.

POD will be sending letters to residents week commencing 14th December confirming the credit and any balances outstanding which must be paid.

Please note that due to the impending change of managing agent and second half year service charge fee being due in January, the site-wide credits will remain on account and as such there will be no physical refund of monies at this stage.

If you have any specific questions about the site-wide credits, do not hesitate to get in touch via the Contact Form on this website.

Andrew Wright
For and on behalf of CCMC Ltd Directors

Managing Agent Update


As noted at the residents meeting on 3rd December, CCMC Ltd will be parting company with POD who acts as managing agent on behalf of the Residents Management Company.

Unfortunately POD had not been fulfilling their duties as described in the Service Specification and following meetings with the Managing Director at the beginning of September, directors began working with POD on a remedial action plan.

During October, it became apparent that the site-wide management company (who had secured POD to undertake site-wide management in January 2020) was also extremely unhappy with the level of performance, so much so that they took management ‘in-house’ and parted company with POD with effect from 9th November 2020.

As directors were not happy with either the remedial action plan or other options proposed by POD, the decision was taken to explore contingency options. POD later informed directors that due to the loss of site-wide work, they did not believe it was viable for them to continue delivering services for our RMC alone and as we did not have full assurance that POD would be able to meet their obligations anyway, there was mutual agreement to part company on 31st December 2020.

Directors have continued to explore contingency options and as a result we have secured the services of Remus. Remus are a national company with a local presence and were interviewed in 2019, narrowly losing out to POD. Remus were already therefore ‘bid compliant’ and as such directors deemed them suitable to be appointed as a ‘step-in’ provider for the remainder of the original POD contract term i.e. to 31st July 2021.

Remus will take over from POD officially on 1st January 2021 however on-boarding and mobilisation will begin imminently. Directors have agreed a list of outstanding actions that POD must progress prior to handover and these actions are being closely monitored. Once Remus has the full list of residents from POD, a welcome pack will be distributed.

If you need to raise any issues, either about the site generally or your account, please continue to do so in the normal way until advised otherwise. It is recommended that you use the Estate Issues Form on this website as directors are copied in and are logging requests to ensure nothing is missed.

If you have any specific questions about the change of managing agent, do not hesitate to get in touch via the Contact Form on this website.

Whilst it is unfortunate that the arrangement with POD was not successful, directors believe action was taken at the earliest opportunity and in the best interests of residents to ensure continuity of service delivery and best value. There will be no overall increase in service charge as a result of the move to Remus and we will keep residents updated in relation to the handover.

Andrew Wright
For and on behalf of CCMC Ltd Directors

Residents Meeting Tonight!

Dear Residents of Eagle Rise & Aqua Verde,

Please find below joining details for our residents meeting that is scheduled for 7.30pm this evening.

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81126141392?pwd=R2xSbW5UQkJJTFgyYTJwaytqNkY2dz09
Meeting ID: 811 2614 1392
Passcode: 877567

We will conduct the meeting in line with the rules at https://ccmc-ltd.uk/virtual-meetings/ and there will be a chance for residents to raise questions in the meeting where appropriate.

Directors look forward to seeing you all this evening 👍

Notice of Residents Meeting

Dear Eagle Rise & Aqua Verde Residents,

Directors of the Residents Management Company will be holding a virtual residents meeting via the Zoom video conferencing facility on Thursday 3rd December at 7.30pm (joining details to follow).


The meeting date has changed from that originally scheduled for 18th November. This is due to unforeseen circumstances in relation to the current COVID & lockdown situation and it is important that all directors, including those who joined in September, can be present to meet with residents.

As with the meeting held in July, this is a ‘town hall’ style residents meeting and not a formal General Meeting of the management company and as such all residents are welcome to attend.

To assist in efficient running of the meeting, you can submit a question in advance. Where possible, questions received will addressed prior to the open forum and can be submitted via www.ccmc-ltd.uk/ask

Please ensure that all questions are posted via the link above no later than midday on Wednesday 25th November.

Directors gratefully request that if you wish to attend the residents meeting, and prior to submitting advance questions, you look at the key information made available on this website.

Please observe the rules that will be followed for conducting online meetings which can be found here. The meeting will be recorded, there is an expectation of good behaviour and directors reserve the right to exclude any person who acts in an abusive manner or disrupts the meeting.

Directors would appreciate all residents signing up to follow CCMC-Ltd so that whenever an update is added, you can be notified immediately by e-mail: www.ccmc-ltd.uk/follow/

The directors look forward to meeting residents of Eagle Rise & Aqua Verde again on Thursday 3rd December.

Managing Agent Review Meeting

CCMC Ltd directors (Andrew Wright, Tom Butler, Chloe Tron) met with POD Management representatives (David Goldberg, Andrew Froy & Charlotte Perrott) on 26th August to conduct a formal review of performance for the first Contract Year. POD Management commenced services as managing agent for CCMC Ltd on 1st August 2019.

Both POD representatives & CCMC Ltd Directors gave an honest assessment of how successful or otherwise they thought the first year had been and whilst POD noted that generally things had gone well, this was not a view entirely shared by CCMC Ltd directors.

CCMC Ltd advised that whilst directors were willing and expected to be actively involved in management of the development, there was too much groundwork being undertaken which they felt POD should be progressing.

As POD generally visit the site on a monthly basis, CCMC Ltd did not believe that POD had a full grasp of all issues that required attention and as such it is often left to directors to pick up and flag them. In addition, directors do not always have assurance that once an issue is flagged that it is always dealt with appropriately or in a timely manner and this often leads to significant director input by way of chasing and checking up that issues are being progressed.

David Goldberg (POD Managing Director) felt that the issues raised required further internal discussion and suggested that a follow up meeting should take place within two weeks at which POD could provide full responses. As such it was agreed that the agenda item “Working Together in Year 2” would be discussed at the follow up meeting. POD also undertook to offer clarity at that meeting in relation to site-wide governance including formalising links between the phase specific residents management companies and the over-arching site-wide management company.

Whilst it was recognised that the development is in a much better position than it was a year ago, CCMC Ltd directors want to see a far more pro-active, organised and responsive service including a significant improvement in communication and engagement with residents.

Informal telephone catch up sessions are held with POD on a regular basis however it is likely that formal review meetings, which include POD senior executives, will take place more often moving forward.

Post Meeting Update:
In relation to the site-wide credits that will be returned to residents, POD will have a statement for release imminently which will outline the process and confirm timescales.

Andrew Wright, Director
Channels (Chelmsford) Management Company Ltd

Highways Remedial Works

Further to previous updates, and escalation via City Councillors, we have been assured that Bellway will be progressing all highways remedial works, including addressing the weeds, during August & September. We should therefore see contractors back on site for the next few weeks prior to a further inspection being carried out by Essex County Council Highways.


It is important to note that previous advice from Bellway indicated a full inspection can only take place if all parts of the highway are fully visible.

This means that everything in front gardens must be contained fully within your boundaries and to prevent any further delay with the adoption process, residents are asked to ensure that all plants & shrubs are cut back during the coming weeks so that all roads and pavements are fully visible.