The committee is elected with equal representation across the blocks on the estate. The constitution, with further details about how the committee functions, can be viewed here.
The Committee is always seeking to keep its membership fresh and representative. So please do contact us if you would like to help, and have an interest in how the Estate should be run and have skills that you may think will be useful. Or you may be interested in the work of one or more of the Project Groups listed.
If you think you can help please contact John Wallace, Secretary to the Committee, Henry Hudson at rigracomm@gmail.com
RIGRA has a number of working groups. If you are having difficulty resolving issues directly with R&R you are welcome to reach out to anyone in these groups for help with issues.. You can contact committee members using contact details on the RIGRA FAQ Document published on the Forum, or if you ask questions directly on the River Gardens Forum other residents will also see any responses.
The list of working groups is below:
Budget and Finance
Car Parks
Communications, Voting, & Community Engagement
Defects
Fire Safety
Health Suite
Landscape and Estate Appearance
Security
RIGRA publishes an Annual Report providing updates on the work of these groups which can also be found on the Forum (you will need to register as a resident of the estate to see).
More detailed information on the goals of a few of these groups is below:
The B&FG has experience of finance and accounting including audit, internal audit, finance systems and consulting, and collectively we believe that we can represent the interests of all Leaseholders. The group’s primary purpose is to review the financial reports of the River Gardens Estate.
R&R are appointed by our respective landlords to manage the finances of our development. However ownership of the finances and the service charge demands sits with the landlords.
R&R follows a financial reporting timetable, and this determines when the group receive financial reports. The financial calendar starts in September when R&R begins to prepare the Service Charge Budget for the following year. We typically become involved in the review process in October once the Quarter 3 (July- September) report is available. The budget is produced by R&R using these figures alongside the forecast for the final quarter. It is important to know that B&FG members have no authority to change the figures of the annual budget or the accounts. Our role is solely to review and understand the figures and be satisfied that the budget prepared by R&R looks reasonable. The Service Charge budget is approved by the landlord, usually by the end of November for R&R to issue the Service Charge demands for the coming financial year.
At the end of the month following each quarter end we receive the quarterly financial report, which is reviewed against that year’s budget. The final part of the financial reporting timetable is the review of the draft year-end accounts which we receive after they have been audited and signed off by the landlord. In 2023 our expectation is that we receive this around mid-year.
Our review process involves looking at the figures, seeking explanations for variances and feeding back questions for further detail. During 2023 the group will meet with R&R’s Property Managers six or more times to follow up on any queries and explanations on variances and on any related topics around River Gardens Finances. At the end of the review, the explanations contained in R&R’s budget guidance notes should be what we believe Leaseholders will be looking for.
The group’s remit is to ensure that the Committee communicates and responds to residents in such a way that its workings are as transparent as possible. This is in turn will enable residents to determine whether the Committee is representing their interests as outlined in the Association’s constitution.
The committe minutes Committee’s monthly meetings, which are archived on the River Gardens Forum, and holds the Annual General Meeting and Extraordinary General Meetings when they are called for.
The Defects Project Group (DPG) exists to pursue our developers & Landlords, L&R and Bellway to remedy defects that they have built into the development. The main objective remains to ensure that the parties responsible for the defects carry out the necessary remedial works to avoid such works eventually becoming a Service Charge cost that residents would bear.
This group works on the medium-term planning towards bringing the Management Company to life with Leaseholder directors and control. As part of this we work on the relationship with the Landlord and developers, with whom such a transition should be agreed, and with the Managing Agent (R&R), supplier of management services to GWMC.
