By Carlos Leon, director Bolnore Village CIC

In 2015 when I suggested to others that we should look into replacing the management company that developers had lumbered us for nearly 15 years just about everyone shared the frustration of not really knowing what our money was spent on, how contractors were chosen and why we had no say in how things were done.

Before long, a team of five of us had met with estate managers from around the south east, roughly figured out the legalities of taking over management, and with the help of Pembroke, who we finally settled on as the best choice for the daily nitty gritty of estate management tasks, set up the Bolnore Village Community Interest Company on behalf of all of its members (anyone who owns property in Bolnore), the first CIC—a kind of company that has many of the benefits of a charity - in the country to set up as an residents’ management company.

Four of those five founding directors of the BVCIC have now gone and in a few weeks it’ll be my turn to step down. The remaining directors: Nadine, Naomi, Jason and Paul and hopefully some new faces will continue to keep Pembroke and the councils in check, and make sure everyone who has something to do with Bolnore keeps talking (including those responsible for phases 4 & 5 of Bolnore which are confusingly managed separately).

Our AGM would normally have just taken place and been attended by some 30 residents who mostly want to know what can be done about parking or school traffic, to which every year our response would be that only the councils can do anything about it and simply asked those present to encourage people to park sensibly or use the “walking bus” between the School and the Woodside.

To others, the BVCIC is responsible for “banning” food vans from the square, “inviting” food vans to the square, making sure one part of the village looks nicer than another, dealing with anti-social neighbours or making up rules for Bolnore… none of which is true.

So, obviously, one of the things we’ve been unable to do is make clear who’s responsible for what. Only this week for example I’ve found out that Bellway Homes still owns a tiny patch of land (about 12 trees and a brook) near Whitebeam Mews, which everyone seems to have forgotten about, probably even Bellway; should be owned by MSDC and no one knows who to contact about making some overgrown poplar trees safe. The muddle of responsibilities is mindboggling and although we don’t always know the answers we’ve always tried to point people in the right direction, solve problems, explain bills or sort out the mess caused by bad planning (in its broadest sense) and constant buck-passing.

The lack of planning, especially in the way management of the village was set up when homes were first sold, the time it takes Crest Nicholson to do anything that doesn’t directly result in sales or the fact that neither West Sussex County Council or MSDC have much incentive or power to fix things have left their mark on Bolnore. I really hope councils learn from this on other big developments, but somehow doubt they will!