New system

Being very unhappy with the performance, or more accurately, lack of performance by the previous gardening company, it was clear an alternative had to be found.

With this in mind I approached some Owners / Residents with the suggestion they might like to form a small co-operative and put forward a proposal for carrying out the gardening work on behalf of the Community. This they duly did, a copy of their proposal is posted below.


This proposal was presented to the Committee at the last meeting and after a lengthy discussion it was agreed to have a trial period to see whether the idea was viable as a long term solution.
A copy of the letter sent to the Owners in question, outlining the plan, is attached below.



There are some points of note :-

The advantages of such a system to the Community are that these people live on Mi Sol, they have a vested interest in keeping the park neat and tidy, making money is not their prime objective. Of course we know where they live !! so problems, if any, can be ironed out quickly.

Some of you may be wondering why the Community are paying for the chemicals, the answer is quite simple. The strimming, clearing, and cleaning by the previous company was in all honesty very good. As time went on it became very evident that the problem was in the spraying not being done properly. This is not surprising in hindsight with a small Company working on a tight profit margin they cut corners.. Good quality chemicals are expensive, for example, a 1 litre bottle of Round-up weed killer costs Euro 24 . 00, and it has to be used properly.

Trying to learn from this, I reasoned that if the Community supplied the chemicals then the contractors are not under the financial pressure as explained above, and there is no reason for them not to spray properly. This should have the effect of reducing their workload for strimming and weed removal, and allow them time to carry out more productive work such as putting common areas to gravel and planting, making the Community areas more like gardens and less like wasteland as is the case at present. Time will tell !!

A large blue enclosed and locked container has been placed at the top of the Park for use by the gardeners. Owners can take their own garden waste and leave it next to the container, the gardeners will then place it in the container. Owners found leaving items other than garden waste will be charged for its removal as per the resolution passed at the AGM of September 2007.

The Committee and I are trying very hard to make a difference, these things take time to achieve, hopefully this is one step along the road to making Mi Sol not only a nicer place to live, but a place to be proud of.