On Thursday Caroline Nokes and I met once again with Aster to discuss the costs being levied for Sewerage Treatment Plants to homeowners attached to them.
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Headlines from the meeting were:
Review of Treatment Plants/Management Contract
- Reviews of Sewerage Treatement Plants' condition and maintenance contract completed
- They will be looking to reduce costs, have agreed to cap tankering charges and excessive charges for other expenses too and will be crediting this over-charging back to service charge accounts at the end of each financial year. Errors in charging and some sites also being credited.
- The maintenance contract was tendered correctly but they accept a national award has caused additional costs. A new contract being prepared for tender, scope to include more localised suppliers being sought.
Alternatives sewerage solutions:
- Financial Support will not be forthcoming in the form of interest free loans to cover the cost of individual or group installation of private treatment plants
- Further work to be done researching Southern Water’s proposed adoption of the Cowleas Cottages Sewerage Plant
- Lymer Villas, Upton - the mains drains are 500m from the plant, technical and cost investigations being undertaken after Southern Water agreeing to connection in principle.
Financial Issues
- An acceptance that the length of tenure of residents should be taken into account when large costs are passed on as they have failed to create sinking funds to mitigate the cost of significant works at each of the sites.
- Repayment solutions for those struggling with payments to be offered, all interest-free, including the option to create a charge against house value to be redeemed upon its sale.
- Sinking funds to be created going forward for all sites.