Residents force CBWRA to abandon closure of the CBW app – still no procedure to prevent arbitrary app account closure

CBWRA made a unilateral decision to close the CBW app a few weeks ago, supposedly because it was ‘unsustainable’ at a cost of £5k per annum (which is roughly what they have left in the bank it would seem) although the balance about two years ago was £27k as I reported here a while ago). Numerous resident protests have forced the CBWRA committee to change this arbitrary decision which was made (as ever) without resident consultation.

Apparently Garton-Jones estate agents will pay the cost of the app which I think is fair given that they have had free advertising on it for at least 2 years (and insisted that no other agent be allowed to advertise there) and they made this a condition of their support for Right to Manage (i.e., they would not help RTM if any other agent was allowed to advertise on the CBW app according to the CBWRA treasurer). Charlie Garton-Jones strongly opposed pursuing Right to Manage while on the CBWRA committee and those who were in favour (such as myself) were shouted down in committee meetings. Incidentally I have seen reliable evidence that Chris Garston of Garton-Jones is not supporting Right to Manage at VISTA, down the road from Chelsea Bridge Wharf.

I hope that residents will not be censored when they relate their negative experiences of Garton-Jones estate agents on the app, as a large number have done on the CBW app in recent months. Perhaps Garton-Jones hope to repair their image with CBW residents following their well documented and massively inappropriate interference in the 2023 Chair elections.

Of course CBWRA committee could have made a systematic effort to obtain paid sponsorship /advertising in the first place, or they could have started a go fund me, or asked residents if they would pay a little towards the app. None of this was done to the best of my knowledge because, in my view, CBWRA committee would be delighted to close the CBW app. The policy of the former Chair and the current co-chairs has always been, in my view, to absolutely minimise any contact with residents and so to minimise the chance for debate, scrutiny or being held to account. Hence they only started having regular meetings with residents in October 2024. There is no agenda, notes or actions from these meetings and only around 3 committee members have bothered to attend each of the two meetings held so far. Debate on the app is closed down by not posting any key documents in the chat area of the app (because it might start a discussion, god forbid). Anyone who does challenge the committee on the app is likely to face online bullying, so many people are understandably afraid to challenge or question. If they persist in questioning the committee it is likely their app account will be closed without any process, warning or right of appeal (as in my case) or they will be threatened with app account closure. It is a sad state of affairs when residents are cowed into silence by their own residents’ association and does not bode will for the future after Right to Manage.

Unfortunately, nearly 5 months after the September 2023 SGM, when residents demanded a written procedure governing the closure of CBW app accounts, the CBWRA chairs, Larissa Villar Hauser and Louis Sebastian Kendall have has still not produced any such procedure nor explained why they cannot do so, again showing utter contempt for the wishes of residents and the constitution.

The CBRWA Co-chairs and Secretary (Katherine Greenaway) have refused to even acknowledge the letter which I sent them on the 15th Jan 2023 which raised the issue of rampant pro-committee online bullying on the CBW app, the arbitrary closure of my CBW app account in 2022 for pointing out that CBWRA were misinforming residents that Right to Manage was not possible. It also draws attention to the misconduct of the 2023 Chair elections, the decision (by a meeting of just 5 committee members) to postpone Chair elections again in clear violation of the constitution. It also questions the decision (again without consultation) not to have any elections at all for the Directors of the CBW Right to Manage company which will have effective control of a £5 million budget, if Right to Manage is is successful, and it also details what appears to be the failure of CBWRA to keep records of correspondence with the freeholders and managing agents. It also asks why someone who has been the subject of four complaints to the Police is still on the CBWRA committee and a Director of the CBW Right to Manage Company.

Residents deserve answers on these questions and an organisation which will not even acknowledge, let alone deal with, an official complaint from a leaseholder (not to mention one who was formerly on the CBWR committee) on such serious matters is clearly one which on my view is out of control and has no respect for its own constitution or the rules generally.