I sincerely trust that everyone had a wonderful time at the upcoming summer celebration. As I pen this message, the event is only a few weeks away, and I’m hopeful that we’ll be blessed with sunny weather. My gratitude goes out to Miranda Quinney and an extensive roster of volunteers, too numerous to acknowledge presently. Rest assured, I’ll compile all the details and photos for the winter issue.
What’s currently on my mind are the changes for the BEO office. It’s easy to quickly assume that things will change dramatically as the review gets going – and they will, but the changes are actually for the better. All the suggestions I’ve seen just make sense and show an effort to improve an organizational system that has become pretty messy and inefficient over the years.
Working through the review and making the needed changes will definitely take a while. The team in charge of the schedule is working on a rough timeline and should have something ready by the end of September. Residents will have a chance to give their input at every step – it’s not mandatory, but for those of us who can spare the time, having experience in these kinds of change processes really matters. In fact, it’s important for all residents to be in the loop and know what’s happening.
One of the things I’m really looking forward to is having someone solely dedicated to managing our repairs and upkeep. Right now, a part of our service charge goes into this, but it’s not handled by the BEO office. Instead, it’s taken care of by a City department called Property Services, which has its hands full with several other housing communities, not just ours.
I’m convinced that this lack of focused attention affects the quality of how they manage our needs because they’re always swamped. We’ve experienced this through the delays in getting information, which can take weeks or even months. And understandably, they can only inspect a fraction of the repairs carried out in our flats.
This is just one of the many issues that the BEO Review is set to tackle. You’ll find the latest updates on the Barbican Association website, and they’ll also be shared with House Groups. I encourage you to join in the discussions and conversations and embrace the process as we look forward to a much more efficient BEO in the future.
Have an awesome autumn!
The Barbican Life Team
