Living Here

The Aldwick Bay Estate

Introduction

Here you’ll find all you need to know about living on this beautiful Estate. To ensure the safety, security, and enjoyment for all residents, there are some Covenants and Estate Rules that should be understood. You’ll also find notes on parking and dogs on the Estate.

The Aldwick Bay Estate

The Estate Covenants and Rules

Alongside its formal role in relation to planning applications, the Aldwick Bay Board is also responsible for monitoring the observance of all Covenants and Estate Rules — in essence, how the Estate is effectively governed.

Standalone Covenants apply to individual properties and, over time, have proven to be both necessary and sensible. However, compliance relies on the goodwill of all residents to maintain a pleasant environment for everyone to enjoy.

Similarly, the Rules are in place to preserve the ethos and character of the Estate, and to enhance the environment for those who live here. Some of the Covenants can even raise a smile. For example:
“Pigs, goats, poultry, or other livestock may not be kept on the Estate.”

Our Rules are based on simple courtesy and common sense. For instance:
“Dogs must always be kept on a lead around the Estate, and any fouling on the roads, paths, verges, or our beach must be removed by their owners.”

The Covenants and Rules help us all to maintain the ethos of the Aldwick Bay Estate. As such, we kindly ask everyone who lives or visits here to abide by them and be considerate of each other — for the benefit of all.

A combination of the Covenants and Estate Rules asks us all to play our part in ensuring that the Estate’s high standard of appearance and ambience is maintained.

Residents’ Gardens
Each householder is expected to keep the gardens belonging to their property in a neat and proper order. That includes front gardens, hedges, and driveways. Where the access to a property is across Company property such as pathways, residents are responsible for maintaining its condition and preventing vehicles damaging the adjacent verges. Properties and their boundary walls and fences must be kept in a good state of repair. Trees and hedges must not be allowed to obstruct sunlight from neighbour’s windows or gardens or obstruct Estate footpaths or verges. The maximum height of fences or hedges at the front of properties abutting the road, are usually specified in covenants as part of title deeds. Residents need to take account of such limits. Residents are responsible for pruning branches and growth that restrict pedestrians or vehicles using the Estate pathways, verges, and roads.

General Rules and Responsibilities

  • Noisy work involving power tools, including driven lawn mowers, strimmers, leaf blowers, chain saws and the like should be restricted to 8.00am – 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. Please avoid such work on Saturdays (and not after 1:00 p.m.) and not on Sundays or Public Holidays.
  • Houses should not be used as business premises necessitating frequent visitors, deliveries, or collections. Trade vehicles should not be kept on Estate properties.
  • Properties within the Estate should not be used other than for the purpose of a private dwelling house, in one occupation only. Parts of the property or extensions to the property may not be let or sub-let. You may not run a Bed & Breakfast business from your property, nor may you rent out your property nor parts of the property or extensions to the property on a short term basis, whether this be as a Holiday Let, Air B&B or for any other purpose.
  • No hoarding, sign, or advertisements other than an estate agent’s sale board may be displayed on any property. The temporary display of a tradesman’s sign in a discreet fashion is acceptable while work is in progress.
  • Parking of mobile homes is not allowed except when loading and unloading contents. This includes the parking of caravans, large boats, and trailers, as it may/can cause a nuisance, damage, or grievance and annoyance to other residents or their respective tenants or the owners or tenants of any adjoining or neighbouring property, which may tend to depreciate or lessen the value of neighbouring properties or the general value of the properties within the Aldwick Bay Estate.
  • Vehicles may not routinely be parked on estate roads or lay-bys, nor temporarily on Estate property, footpaths, sidewalks, or verges. It is expected that residents will make available on their own property enough accommodation for their own vehicles. Residents are requested to display an up-to-date Estate car sticker provided to them each year on their car windscreen. Any parking enforcement company employed by the Estate will ignore out of date windscreen stickers.
  • The speed limit on all roads is a maximum of 20mph and drivers/cyclists are requested to take care when approaching pedestrians walking on the road.
  • Residents and visitors are requested to use pedestrian access points rather than enter the Estate via the road and to close all pedestrian gates after use, especially those leading to our beach.
  • Security coding numbers and key fobs should not be shared.
  • Washing must be hung up out of view from the road.
  • No bonfires or fireworks should be lit due to the risk of fire especially for thatch roofed properties.
  • The feeding of seagulls, foxes and pigeons is discouraged as it unbalances the natural Ecostructure.

Other Responsibilities

Others relate to the relative responsibilities of both residents and Company, as referred to in th Estate Rules, for example:

  • Prior written approval of the Company must be obtained before undertaking erection or extension of any building on the estate or changing points of access. Lack of proof of all appropriate approvals can seriously hinder subsequent sale of the property.
  • No temporary buildings other than sheds or workshops to be built during the erection of a permanent dwelling.
  • Prior permission from the Company must be sought before storing materials on paths, verges or roads.
  • Any damage to the Company’s roads or verges caused by residents, or contractors employed by them, must be made good, or the cost of so doing paid to the Company, by the resident concerned.
  • No discharge of effluent, contaminated surface water or building materials should be put down drains.
  • In order to reduce wear and damage to the road infrastructure and drainage, vehicles entering the Estate should not exceed 26 tonnes.

Conservation and Protected Areas

Much of the Estate is covered by a Conservation Area and Tree Preservation Order and therefore no trees may be felled on the estate without the prior approval of the Company in addition to which, planning approval from the Arun District Council will generally also be required.

The Estate private beach area is designated by Natural England as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and the following are expressly prohibited: –

  • Dumping or discharge of any materials

  • Bonfires or fireworks

  • Holding BBQs on the Boardwalk

  • Padlocking cycles to the various seating and benches

  • Removal of any plant, tree or shrub, or removal of shingle, sand, gravel or soil

  • Use of vehicles likely to damage the beach

  • Killing of any animal, reptile, bird or fish

Selling or buying a house on the Estate

Guidance for Selling a House on the Aldwick Bay Estate

The Aldwick Bay Company (ABC) is not in any way responsible for the sale of your house and would always suggest the engagement of solicitors when buying or selling. Aldwick Bay Company (ABC) owns and manages the common areas of the Estate. What follows is simply guidance.

If you are planning to sell your house on the Aldwick Bay Estate, the process will include the following:

  • Your solicitor will ask ABC to complete an FME1 form, for which there is a fee payable to ABC.

  • Each house on the Estate has a share attached. This share needs to be returned to the Company via your solicitor and you will need to sign a stock transfer form. There is a fee payable to ABC to do this work. If the share is lost or a shareholder has passed away, there is a separate process to follow, to the same end.

  • ABC will make a new share in the name of the buyer. The new share will be sent to the buyer via their solicitor after completion.

Guidance for Buying a House on the Aldwick Bay Estate

Buying a property on the Aldwick Bay Estate is the same procedure as anywhere except that there is a management company, Aldwick Bay Company (ABC), run by the residents via share ownership, which owns the freehold of all the roads and verges and manages the common areas of the estate.

All the homeowners own a share in ABC. The share attached to the property is issued by ABC after completion.

When moving onto the Estate please contact Aldwick Bay Company via email [email protected] to inform them of the proposed date of moving in, so that we can provide you with the Welcome Pack with its essential information.

Safety and Security on the Estate

The Aldwick Bay Estate, a private development, has been maintained and managed since 1988 by elected Directors, all of whom are residents. Under their guidance it has become a safe and secure place to live; crime levels are very low and to date there have been only a few minor incidents. In order to keep it this way, adherence to the Estate Covenant and Rules is paramount with residents and their visitors taking the responsibility for their own actions, property and possessions.

Security Measures
All residents are invited to be part of the Neighbourhood Watch (NHW) scheme co-ordinated by one of our residents who keeps in close touch with the police and the Board, circulating relevant information to those who sign up to join.

In addition, the Estate has a network of 15 Area Representatives who are the first point of contact between their allocated group of residents and the Board. Being close neighbours and looking out for each other, any suspicious behaviour and abnormal events can be reported quickly and shared with the necessary authorities, the NHW, other residents and the Board.

CCTV surveillance is deployed at the two main entrances to the Estate and at other strategic locations. The primary purpose of the Estate CCTV system is to act as a deterrent for criminal and anti-social behaviour for its residents.

The A’Beckets Avenue vehicle entrance is controlled by a key fob or telephone access which is restricted to residents only. All pedestrian entrances are gated.

Parking on The Estate

Estate Rules require residents to park private vehicles on their own property. Whenever practical, the same applies to vehicles belonging to their visitors – friends, relatives and contractors alike. All cars belonging to residents should have an in-date Aldwick Bay Estate sticker on the window screen so that any vehicle parked “illegally” on Company property can be easily identified and appropriate action taken.

The effectiveness of the Estate security measures is under regular review by the Board, including the possible use of professional security staff to patrol and monitor security on the Estate.

Health and Safety

The Aldwick Bay Board manages the assets on behalf of the residents: roads, entrances, verges, paths, trees, and miscellaneous such as seating, signage and bollards that are a feature of the Estate. It is their collective responsibility to ensure that residents, visitors and contractors can be safe on Company property.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) recommended guidelines are employed throughout the Company, especially in the areas of Maintenance and Estate Management. The Company H&S Policy and rules are reviewed annually to ensure they are still accurate and meet the latest legislation.

The Directors walk as individuals around the Estate regularly and as a team, looking for hazards and assigning responsibility for corrective actions. This is supplemented by comments from residents and contractors, in particular the Estate gardeners, which are recorded and actioned accordingly.

Since many of the roads do not have pavements, the highest risk area is from vehicles ranging from cycles to lorries going about their daily business meeting pedestrians. The speed limit on the Estate is set at a maximum of 20mph and there are several speed humps and signage to make people aware. The residents and visitors when walking must play their part too by giving traffic due respect, use paths where they are available, keep young children under control and dogs must always be kept on leads. Please respect this speed limit and ask visitors to respect it also. There are an increasing number of children and pets using the road – please do not endanger their lives.

Major road works are undertaken by professional contractors as are the maintenance of the A’Beckets auto gates and Estate grounds. All must have public liability insurance and observe good safety practices, write method statements, carry out the appropriate risk assessments, wear the correct PPE, use equipment/tools that are fit for purpose and most importantly, possess the appropriate qualifications to carry out their activities safely with regard to both themselves and those they impact.

Safety is everyone’s responsibility

Dogs

Dogs are more than welcome on the Estate but must always be kept on a lead around the Estate. Fouling by them on the roads, paths, verges, or our beach must be removed by their owners. Dog poo bins are positioned close to each of the paths and twittens from the beach into the Estate. The Estate area of the beach allows dogs to use the beach all year round – unlike many of the other beaches in Bognor during May–September.

Gate entrances

The Estate has two main entrances – one at A’Beckett’s end of the Estate on Nyetimber Road. This has electric gates which are activated by a Zapper or a telephone number.

The Gate Zappers cost £37 each, which is the amount the Company pays for them. Alternatively, you can log your telephone number and this will activate the gates.

For both of the above, please contact the Estate Office in Barrack Lane or via email: [email protected]

The second entrance is at the Barrack Lane end of the Estate where the gates are always open.

Estate Maps

Water Quality at Pagham

No Pollution Incidents Reported

The most recent classification is Good,

based on sample taken from 2021 through to 2024

Water Quality at Bognor Regis (Aldwick)

No Pollution Incidents Reported

The most recent classification is Poor

based on sample taken from 2021 through to 2024