Gardening Policy

POSOL has a legal obligation to maintain all common areas of the estate.

When the estate was initially developed it was expected that the houses would be holiday homes with yachtsmen visiting for the weekend and then rushing back home on the Sunday evening. The developers worried that because of this the front gardens would not be tended and sales of houses would be impaired if the estate looked unkempt. At that time POSOL was managed by the developer and was not the democratic organisation it is today. The developer made POSOL maintain all front gardens as a clever way of keeping the estate looking good at the expense of the shareholders,

When the developers left and POSOL became a democratically run organisation the first set of Directors made the decision that maintaining all front gardens was good for shareholders and continued the practice. All subsequent Directors have endorsed this decision.

Therefore while POSOL is not under any obligation to maintain individual front gardens it has continued to do so ever since.

Shareholders who do not wish POSOL to maintain their gardens may opt out of this service.

Routine maintenance is contracted out to a gardening company who are on site typically three days per week during the summer and two days per week during the winter. Their schedule of work will normally be as recommended by the Gardening Working Group.

Shareholders wishing to make a complaint or request for gardening work should address this to the Managing Agent using the form on the website (or obtained from the Managing Agent) and should not contact the gardeners directly.

The Board also arranges for specific areas to be refurbished when plant growth and general aging demand more intensive work than routine maintenance. Areas to be refurbished are taken in turn but with regard to any particular local problems.

When an area is to be refurbished the Board will listen to the views of the house owners in that area.

In the event that a tree or large plant should be removed from a front garden, on the grounds it may cause damage, then the house owner will be given the option of demanding that the tree or plant is left in place. In such instances the house owner will be asked to sign a document absolving POSOL from any responsibility for damage caused by the tree or plant.