Michael O'Driscoll

I have been a Chelsea Bridge Wharf (Warwick) Leaseholder since 2004. Working for Right to Manage and a democratic and well governed residents' association - we will not get one without the other. I have led successful campaigns for traffic control on Sopwith Way, ending BH use of depots on Sopwith Way, raising awareness amongst Warwick leaseholders about the need for lease extensions in 2020, saving many residents thousands of pounds. I got Warwick leaseholders a refund averaging £700 through a challenge to the management contract. I was the first resident to raise the issue of unjustified waking watch charges (in August 2020) and with other residents, reactivated the CBWRA in 2021 after six years of dormancy. I am very disappointed with what CBWRA has become (the absence of democracy, freedom of speech, consultation) and it must be changed to become a normal, democratic, inclusive and transparent residents' association. I have forced CBWRA to stop misinforming residents and admit that Right to Manage is possible. Whether they are actually capable of delivering it is another matter. The whole point of Right to Manage is to put residents in control and CBWRA clearly are not even interested in consulting residents and literally do not know a focus group from a subcommittee. I was forced to resign from CBWRA committee by Stephen Thompson in October 2021 because I refused to take down a petition against Rendall and Rittner. I still refuse :) nearly 4,000 signatures and growing. The former Chair of CBWRA (Stephen Thompson) closed my CBW app account in May 2022 apparently for saying that Right to Manage is possible (this was supposedly 'misinformation' although the CBWRA committee now apparently agree that it is possible). There was no due process, discussion or appeal. The current co-Chairs (Louis Sebastian Kendall and Larissa Villar Hauser), elected through a shabby process, seem content to continue with these undemocratic policies, and have nothing meaningful to say about the 49% increase in service charges in April 2023. They have been unable to provide any evidence that I broke any rules of the CBW app at any time and this is tacit admission that the closure of my account is simply censorship - the inability to cope with legitimate scrutiny of the residents' association. I have been subjected to groundless defamatory accusations by the former Chair of CBWRA on the CBW app platform where he knows I cannot respond. I have had to report him to the Metropolitan Police on two occasions for unwanted contact on phone /email. In my view this behaviour is cowardly, unfair and also prevented a fair election process. Despite that, 30% of residents voted for me in Chair elections 2023 (many thanks to all of you!) showing that many people know the truth. Right to Manage for all of Chelsea Bridge Wharf is and was the only way forward IMHO - CBWRA have been forced into acknowledging that but they have little idea what Right to Manage really means in terms of empowering residents and seem to have little interest in what residents think. Get in touch to discuss how you can get involved in bringing about a fairer more democratic CBW. Right to Manage is only half the battle - without an elected and accountable Residents' Association committee, Right to Manage will not bring meaningful change for most residents *Resident-led Right to Manage for all of CBW * End the toxicity, bullying, censorship and arbitrary account closure on the CBW app *Create a democratic and well governed residents' association *We should live in a democracy not a dictatorship.