Happy New Year 2023 & Christmas Tree recycling

The PWRA board would like to wish all residents and their families a Happy New Year.

As always, at this time of year, there is a lot of rubbish and recycling from the festive period that will have built up. Residents are kindly asked to be as considerate as possible to everyone else in the community by correctly disposing of their refuse; breaking down any cardboard boxes, and compressing plastic bottles and containers to save space in communal bins.

The party is over for Christmas trees so give them a new life and recycle

For those of you that have Christmas trees that require disposal after the seasonal festivities, please be aware that Tower Hamlets do offer a free collection service for real trees (not plastic). This service runs from 9th to 19th January 2023 and is aligned with the normal kerbside food and garden collection service (Wednesdays in the case of Plymouth Wharf).

In order to use the service, remove all decorations from your tree first and place it out with existing food and garden waste on Wednesday 11th January or Wednesday 18th January.

In order to avoid trees blowing around the development in the event of high winds, those in houses should leave trees securely up against their fence at the end of their drives.

Residents in the flats should place their trees in the Block 4 recycling bin area (this is the area opposite the Block 4 stairwell between properties 53 & 54. Please take care not to block access to the bins for residents in that Block. We will then arrange with collection team to take all the trees in this area.

We kindly ask that residents who do not make use of this service to not simply dump trees in bin cupboards or elsewhere on the development as they will not be collected. If necessary, CCTV will be used to enforce and dumping of rubbish and offenders will be charged for removal.

Gutter cleaning – North side houses 44-52 – Tuesday 20th December

City House Cleaning will be attending site tomorrow, Tuesday 20th December, to complete the remaining gutter clearing that our original contract (HJ Tebbutt & Sons) were unable to complete.

Works to clear the gutters will be restricted to the rear of the north-side houses (No. 44-52) and contractors will be on-site during this operation. They’ll be using specialist equipment to access and clean the rear gutters from the ground floor and will require access through each property and to an electrical point. The contractors will wear protective overshoes when walking through each property. These works will be carried from 8:30am.

Gutter cleaning 5th December-12th December


Our annual gutter cleaning work is due, and a contractor has been selected (HJ Tebbutt & Sons). Works to clear the gutters will commence on Monday the 5th of December, 2022. HJT&S’ contractors will be on-site during this operation. They’ll use ladders and a cherry picker that will be parked on site (North West Corner of the Estate). These works will be carried out daily from 8:30am.


The schedule will be as follows:

  • Monday the 5th of December: Block 3 & 2
  • Tuesday the 6th of December: Houses South Side (House 11 – 19)
  • Wednesday 7th of December: Houses South Side & Block 1
  • Thursday 8th of December: Block 1 & 4
  • Friday 9th of December: Houses North Side (House 44 – 52)
  • Monday 12th of December: Houses North Side (House 44 – 52)


This schedule may vary according to how things unfold. But the plan is to finish by the 12th of December.

In order to facilitate access for contractors:

  • Some flats on the ground floor may be requested access to back patios to clear the gutters on the east side of the state. The same will apply to the west side of the estate.
  • House tenants and/or owners may be requested access through their properties.
  • We will request vehicle owners from the houses to park somewhere else for a working day while contractors carry out the job in each row of houses.

Gutter cleaning 29th November-2nd December

Gutter cleaning is planned for 29th November-2nd December and will be undertaken by contractors from City Housekeeping. We are aware of a number of complaints of gutter blockages issues raised by residents, which will be addressed as part of this work. It has been 12 months since this was last undertaken and was originally expected that such maintenance work would only need to be undertaken annually. Unfortunately, it seems current seasonal weather conditions mean this may need to be more frequently. As such, PWRA will be undertaking 6 month reviews in future.

Work will commence on 29th November on the north side houses (properties #45-#52) moving clockwise around the development thereafter with the river facing blocks next.

In order to facilitate access to guttering in may be necessary to move certain vehicles temporarily so please be on standby. PWRA will contact you directly should this be the case.

Access will also be needed to to the rear of all houses to clean gutters at the rear. The contractors may also need access to an electrical point for their equipment when working on the houses.

Tree pruning and temporary suspension of parking around central garden area – Monday 15th-Wednesday-17th November

Tree surgeons from Keith Archer’s Tree Care Specialists from will be on-site between Monday 15th to Wednesday 17th to undertake essential annual gardening work to prune back the trees in the central garden area.

In order to facilitate this work all parking bays both visitor and resident allocated spaces around the central garden bed will need to be temporarily suspended. This is to facilitate access by the contractors to the trees and also to avoid any risk of potential damage due to falling branches etc.

All affected residents with allocated spaces should make alternative arrangements either by parking outside the development/on the street or getting agreement to temporarily use another resident’s empty space by one of the blocks. Should neither of those two options be viable please contact directors@directorsplymouthwharf.com and we will allocate you a temporary parking space.

Unfortunately visitor bays will not be available during this time as priority needs to be given providing temporary spaces for resident allocated spaces. Any visitors must park offsite.

Parking spaces located adjacent to the blocks and on the forecourts of houses will not be affected. Residents who have one of these spaces but is not using it during this time and would be prepared to offer it to help should also contact directors@plymouthwharf.com

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Completion of redecoration works – Monday 12th July

Our contractors, SJS have now completed nearly all of the redecoration work. There are a few details to cover but Monday the 12th of July should be the last day. If anyone has an issue please email roberto.saas@plymouthwharf.com by Monday morning at the latest.

Before reporting an issue, something that was missed for instance, please make sure the area is free of obstacles and accessible to the contractors so they can finish the work. After Monday, the board will not recall the contractors at PWRA’s expense. 

The board would like to thank everyone for their patience and cooperation over the last few weeks during the redecoration works.

External painting and redecoration works – 17th May 2021

External painting and redecoration works will be undertaken across the whole development from 17th May 2021 for approximately 12-14 weeks. This work was originally planned for last year but had to be delayed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. 

The works to be carried out under the agreement are in accordance with the section 20 process that has already been undertaken and previously shared with all shareholders/owners. A copy of the specification for the works has been previously shared and is available upon request to shareholders. In summary these works will include repainting of all block doors (communal and flat front doors), bannisters and handrails, gates, fences (front and rear) and any remaining wooden window frames.

The contract for the works has been awarded to SJS Maintenance.

Works will start on Monday 17th May on the riverside Blocks 2 & 3 (Properties #20-#43) for an expected 4 weeks. The following 4 weeks will be to complete central houses (#11-#19 and #44-#52). Finally the work will conclude with the two roadside Blocks 1 & 4 (Properties #1-10 and #53-#62) for further 4 weeks. In total, all works are expected to be finished between to 12 to 14 weeks.

Various contractor equipment and a storage container will be placed within the premises as well as a portable toilet (to be used for the contractors). Temporary restrictions on some of the parking spaces will therefore be in place.

Contractors from SJS Maintenance will be in and out for the whole duration of the works. They will be working Monday to Friday from 8am till 4:30pm.

Further important communications will be posted here website and via communal notice boards in each block during the works to advise on any steps residents need to undertake during the works.

Adjustment of block stairwell doors and Block 1 & 2 lock replacement – Wednesday 26th May 2021

Works will be undertaken Wednesday 26th May by Solid Security Doors to replace the ground floor communal stairwell entrance door locks in Block 1 (Flats 1-10) and Block 2 (Flats 20-32), which have become worn and problematic over time. Unfortunately this will necessitate replacement of keys as there is no way to retain the existing lock. Owners for affected properties have already been sent an email to make the necessary arrangements for collection of replacement keys.

For security reasons, PWRA will only provide keys to property owners or a nominated representative authorised by the property owner. Tenants in affected properties are therefore encouraged to contact their landlord or managing agent to ensure they obtain replacement keys in order to not be locked out during the changeover. Owners who have not received the email mentioned above are advised to contact directors@plymouthwharf.com urgently.

During these works, the contractor will also be reviewing and adjusting all communal stairwell fire doors across all Blocks 1-4. PWRA has received a number of recent reports of sticking doors and some cases were also highlighted during our recent health and safety asessment. This work is intended to resolve these issues. Unfortunately, due to temperature and weather changes over time the doors will likely require adjustment again in future.

Block stairwell emergency lighting upgrade works – 28th April

Electricians from Artek Electrical will be on-site today (28th April) to undertake essential upgrade work to add an additional emergency light to the top floor of each block communal stairwell. This work is to ensure lighting is compliant with latest health and safety recommendations.

Disruption from the work should be minimal although those in the blocks may hear some noise of drilling during the routing of new cables and may notice communal lights in the block being switched on and off during testing.

PWRA apologises for late notice and any inconvenience caused.

Bicycle storage area consultation

We have previously shared communications that storing of personal items such as bikes, buggies etc in the communal areas is not permitted other than existing shared bicycle racks. This is a health and safety hazard, which was again highlighted in the recent assessment conducted. The PWRA board believe one of the reasons for this may be the lack of a covered and secure storage space for such items, specially in the blocks of flats.

We would like to get your views on whether we should look to providing additional covered / secure storage spaces and understand whether such an additional space may be useful for you to consequently avoid items being stored in the common areas. In this regard, please could you answer the following questions.

This consultation will run for 21 days and hence responses must be submitted by 18th May.

This survey is open to all residents, both owners and tenants. To complete it please click on the following link.

https://us19.list-manage.com/survey?u=74177838413281aa7a31c069f&id=1f9aae004e