New Defects Procedure

Some residents have been having unsatisfactory results with defect remediation for their new apartment. We recently had a meeting with the Developer and have come with a plan for actioning this.

In the first instance, stick with the procedure you were given – go directly to the contact you’ve been provided and follow it up straight away. Hopefully the issue will be resolved quickly. If not, inform the Body Corporate Committee (BCC) of your issues and we will maintain a list of unresolved issues throughout the complex. We will periodically take this back the Developer directly, who will follow it up. We will communicate with the Developer for all such escalations on behalf of the complex.

There are a few ways to reach committee members:

  • Through the resident group chat on Signal (if you’re not a member already, join here)
  • The contact form on the website (here)
  • Email direct to committee <at> 16constable <dot> com

Many of you already know some of the BCC members personally, so feel free to approach us if you see us around the complex, or send us a text if your have our phone number.

Finally, if you have any outstanding build issues, please get in touch now with your apartment number and the nature of the issue, and once we have an initial list built, we’ll take it to the Developer.

Door Issues – August Update from the Developer

Most apartments have had on-going issues with the front door. We have requested an update from the developer. The Body Corporate Committee has received the following response from them:

We have meet with the door supplier during the week. They believe they have a viable solution for the apartments external doors. however they want this solution to be BRANZ certified before this is implemented. Information about BRANZ is available at:

https://www.branz.co.nz/about

The downside of this approach is that the BRANZ certification can take approximately 6 to 8 weeks by the time this is tested and certified. 

The upside to the BRANZ certification is that the approach will give the Body Corporate a very strong comfort level that the solution will work.

The proposal is expected to go to BRANZ this coming week.

We will keep you informed as we progress.

First home builders encouraged to apply for $5000 rates remission

Rates Remissions Forms – Click Here

1 May 2018, Re-posted from WCC Website:

Wellington City Council is encouraging those buying or building their first home to take advantage of a $5000 rates remission, if they fit the criteria below, says Mayor Justin Lester.

First time building rates remission

The remission is available to those buying a newly constructed home, an apartment off the plans or for those building their own home. It is only for first home buyers.

“This is for Wellingtonians wanting to buy their first house, and to encourage first-home buyers to think about making our beautiful city their home,” the Mayor says.

“As the leaders of this city, it’s important the Council is doing something tangible to help people own their own homes and to incentivise new construction supply in Wellington.

“Together with Kiwisaver Homestart grants, a qualifying individual could be entitled to $15,000, or a couple up to $25,000.”

The remission, which will reduce the amount you have to pay in a rates year, was approved by the Council last year and applications are now open for the first round of rebates in the rating year beginning on July 1, 2018.

The Council has received 18 applications to date, and those fitting the criteria have until 30 June 2018 to apply for a remission in the 2018/19 financial year.

“We know there are more out there and I encourage all those buying or building a first home to check if they are eligible,” he says.

“For every remission we give, we know that’s another person, or family, who are choosing to put their roots down here and contribute to Wellington for decades to come.”

The Council’s Housing Portfolio Leader, Councillor Brian Dawson, says the rebate is one of a suite of tangible things the Council is doing to think outside the box.

“Housing can’t just be left to fix itself, so we need to be innovative,” Cr Dawson says.

“We’ve developed an affordability tool to ensure fairness, we’re working on CBD conversions, we’re partnering with the Government to tackle homelessness and in the coming months the public will see more work we’ve been doing as we finalise our 10-Year Plan.”

Please see the link below for more details

Upcoming Mainteance

Dear Residents, just to let you know that tomorrow (Thursday 18 March) there will be workers fixing the pavement around the ground floors of apartment blocks A and B. Please move your bikes to enable this work to take place, which will be for the day. The areas behind blocks C and D are also being done today and tidied up.

Many thanks in advance.

The Body Corporate Committee.

Fun At The Fair

Residents of 16 Constable Street. The Newtown Festival would love to have some extra help on Sunday 7 March. There are a number of roles coordinated from the Festival Office – e.g. traffic marshalling, helping stallholders find their places and get set up, helping put up fences and signs, delivering tables & chairs around the site and setting them out, etc.

Email newtownfestival@gmail.com to discuss options, or ring 021 0252 8709. We would love to hear from you!

Additionally, Wellington Waste Managers  are organising waste management at the Festival. Getting involved with this enthusiastic crew can be a lot of fun!  The commitment is for two hours of monitoring a recycling station or helping with ‘wash against waste’, as well as attending a training session in the week before the Festival.

People can sign up through this link: https://forms.gle/Qb21VXiQTAD5bm7y6

Go on, get involved!

Defect List

The Committee are putting together a list of defects (both inside the apartments and in the complex as a whole) to present to the builder, who will discuss it with developers and come up with a remediation strategy.

Please update the master spreadsheet with your defects so the developer can take a look. If you can’t update the spreadsheet directly, please send your issue list on to the committee, who will do so on your behalf.

The are a few ways to get your issues to us. In order of preference:

We hope that by getting all issues identified and looked at as a whole, we’ll be able to get them all resolved quicker and more efficiently. It’s important we identify as much as possible now so that everything gets sorted sooner.

Thanks for your assistance – only together can we make this the complex we all want to live in.

Body Corporate Committee

Bin Area: Keep It Clean

Please think of your neighbours and keep the bin area clean. We don’t want pests, or health and safety issues.

Things to remember:

  • Breakdown cardboard boxes so they fit in the cardboard recycling bin.
  • Don’t dump waste next to the outside of the general waste bin (it won’t get collected).
  • Refrain from dumping animal waste on the floor of the bin area. It is horrible to clean up and causes the area to stink.
  • The yellow top wheelie bin is for plastic and cans only.
  • Be a tidy Kiwi!

Any issues or suggestions, please let the Body Corporate Committee know.