On Sat, 15 Oct 2011 10:15:34 -0700 (PDT), harry
wrote:

On Oct 15, 2:05*pm, MM wrote:
On Sat, 15 Oct 2011 12:37:08 +0100, Clive George





wrote:
On 15/10/2011 09:29, MM wrote:
Where I live the sewage treatment plant recently broke down and needed
a new pump. Householders each had to pay a relatively small sum of
money in order to avoid tapping into the contingency fund which is
really there for replacing the entire plant in 20 years' time.

And then a number of residents refused to pay, for whatever reason I
don't know. Those who had paid got their money back and the bill for
the new pump plus labour etc was paid from the contingency fund
instead.
...
A new plant for 40 houses would cost around 35k at today's prices.In
20 years from now it could be double or treble that, so building up
the contingency fund is vital.

Does rhis imply the householders don't pay a sewage charge to the water
companies?

Correct. My water bill (singleton household) is around 90 a year.

I'd not treat the money as a contingency fund for a new plant. There
should be an annual charge, payable by all (possibly based on ratable
value), which will cover all costs related to the sewage system.

Oh, we do pay 375 each per year mainly to cover the emptying three
times a year, plus electricity for the pumps and for the plant
maintenance engineers to do their checks every so often, plus
electricity for street lighting. What is left over goes into the
contigency fund intended to fund the cost of replacement when the
plant is due to be scrapped, not to fund emergency repairs that can
fall due at any time. "Contingency" is perhaps not the right word to
describe this fund, but everyone now knows it as such. This is the
arrangement set out in legal documents that all residents sign when
they agree to purchase a property so they haven't got a leg to stand
on when they refuse to pay, or pay late.

I'm told that the annual service charge will have to rise considerably
for 2012 because of this latest reluctance by some to pay, and I
expect that announcement will again be greeted by blank refusal by
several residents. At least one person had to be taken to court before
they paid the service charge, claiming they weren't liable because
they had sub-let the property.

This
includes maintenance costs and capital costs, ie building up reserves if
necessary. You'd need something to administer this - whether it's an
existing company or a new one. They'd need to be able to take out loans
to pay for significant capital expenditure if their reserves were
insufficient, or to insure for the same costs.

When people balk at setting up such a thing, work out how much they'd
pay for the sewage charge to a water company.

Last time I checked it would add around another 100 quid to my bill,
and a lot more for families. But many people don't see beyond their
noses. Mind you, I'd rather pay Anglian Water a 100 quid, plus say
only 50 quid to the estate management, but we're miles from any mains
drainage, so it's not an option.

Or of course get a utility to take on the whole thing for a one-off cost.

We already went down that road once, using a professional management
company, and it was a shambles. People moving home couldn't get the
right documents out of them in timely fashion for their solicitors to
look at and so on. We were paying 20% VAT on electricity instead of 5%
which is what we're now paying, and lots more besides.

But it's just a few residents who ruin it for everybody else, sadly.

One last thing: If ANYone is contemplating moving to an estate which
depends on a private sewage treatment plant, my advice is to STAY
AWAY! Just drive on, even if the house is fine in all other respects.
It's not worth the continual hassle which has plagued this estate
since 2004.

MM- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I have my own septic tank. Needs MTing once every five years or so.
There is no pump. You could always install one of these and withdraw
from the commune.

I don't think the original planning permission allowed for that.
Several people have enquired, but got a big N O from the local
authorities.

MM