Crest Nicholson Plc Evicted Houseboat Family Open Letter of Appeal

Open Letter of Appeal from The Shalom Family

to

Investors and Associations of Crest Nicholson Plc

21st October 2005

The following letter is respectfully and openly addressed, in equal measure, to all the under mentioned institutions, and /or individuals, some, as registered, with United Kingdom Companies House, October 2005.


Crest Nicholson Plc and Their Associations/Advisors

Marcel Ospel UBS Bank Merchant Bankers to Crest Nicholson Plc,

KPMG Audit Auditors to Crest Nicholson Plc,

Linklaters Solicitors to Crest Nicholson Plc,

Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, Brokers to Crest Nicholson Plc,

Royal Bank of Scotland, Bankers/Advisors to Crest Nicholson Plc,

Lloyds TSB Bank, Bankers/Advisors to Crest Nicholson Plc,

HSBC Bank, Bankers/Advisors to Crest Nicholson Plc,

Barclays Bank, Bankers/Advisors to Crest Nicholson Plc,

Allied Irish Banks, Bankers/Advisors to Crest Nicholson Plc,

Bank of Scotland, Bankers/Advisors to Crest Nicholson Plc,

National Bank of Egypt International, Bankers/Advisors to Crest Nicholson Plc,

Brunswick Group Financial PR to Crest Nicholson Plc,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Crest Nicholson Major Shareholders

HERON INTERNATIONAL
HERON HOUSE
19 MARYLEBONE ROAD
LONDON
NW1 5JL

GERALD RONSON, Director HERON INTERNATIONAL
DANIEL KITCHEN, Director HERON INTERNATIONAL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HBOS PLC
THE MOUND
EDINBURGH
EH1 1YZ

JAMES CROSBY, Director HBOS PLC
CHARLES DUNSTONE, Director HBOS PLC
SIR RONALD GARRICK, Director HBOS PLC
ANTHONY HOBSON, BA MBA FCA, Director HBOS PLC
PHILIP HODKINSON, Director HBOS PLC
ANDREW HORNBY, Director HBOS PLC
BRIAN IVORY, C.B.E. Director HBOS PLC
COLIN MATTHEW, Director HBOS PLC
COLINE MCCONVILLE, Director HBOS PLC
GEORGE MITCHELL, Director HBOS PLC
KATHLEEN NEALON, Director HBOS PLC
DAVID SHEARER, Director HBOS PLC
HENRY STEVENSON, CBE, LORD STEVENSON OF CODDENHAM, Director HBOS PLC
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
HENRY DUNCAN HOUSE
120 GEORGE STREET
EDINBURGH
EH2 4LH

DR WOLFGANG BERNDT, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
EWAN BROWN, CBE. Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
ERIC DANIELS, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
TERESA DIAL, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
JAN DU PLESSIS, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
MICHAEL FAIREY, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
GAVIN GEMMELL, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
SIR JULIAN MICHAEL HORN-SMITH, MSC BSC (ECON) Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
DR DEANNE SHIRLEY JULIUS, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
ARCHIBALD KANE, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
ANGELA KNIGHT, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
LORD ALEXANDER PARK LEITCH, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
GEORGE TATE, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
MAARTEN VAN DEN BERGH, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
HELEN WEIR, Director LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
TEMPLE COURT
11 QUEEN VICTORIA ST
LONDON
EC4N 4SB

CATHERINE ROSEMARY REID AVERY, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
TIMOTHY JAMES BREEDON, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
FRANCES ANNE MRS HEATON, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
BEVERLEY CLIFFE HODSON, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
ROBERT JOHN MARGETTS, CBE Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
JOHN BARRIE MORGANS, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
ANDREW WILLIAM PALMER, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
ROBIN ASHLEY PHIPPS, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
JOHN BRACKENRIDGE POLLOCK, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
SIR DAVID JOHN PROSSER, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
RONALDO HERMANN SCHMITZ, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
HENRY ERIC STAUNTON, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
JAMES MURRAY STRACHAN, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
DAVID ALAN SIR WALKER, Director LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VALE OF GLAMORGAN COUNCIL
CIVIC OFFICES
HOLTON ROAD
BARRY
VALE OF GLAMORGAN
WALES

JEFFREY JAMES Executive Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
QUAY MARINAS LIMITED
AVON HOUSE
STOKE GIFFORD
BRISTOL
AVON

SIMON HAIGH Quay Marinas Limited
ANDREW YATES Quay Marinas Limited
PAUL RYE Quay Marinas Limited
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Investors and Associations of Crest Nicholson Plc

Open Letter of Appeal from The Shalom Family

21st October 2005

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

With reference to the above and in view of your noted association, either directly or indirectly, we humbly implore you to take notice and help us in our Family Campaign for Social Justice, from property developer and house builder, Crest Nicholson Plc based at Crest House, Thames Street, Weybridge, Surrey, England.

On October 28th 2005 both of us and our five daughters will commemorate the second anniversary of being evicted from our own Home of 14 years, our Houseboat, which was our property.

We were evicted from ‘MV Picton’ by Crest Nicholson Marinas Limited, an erstwhile subsidiary company of Crest Plc. We have been made homeless. We have also lost everything that we owned in our Home, personal belongings, effects, Home contents, etc. Even our children’s 7 pet goldfish were seized. Everything about our Home is still presently lost. We believe we have done nothing wrong.

We kindly invite you to see the full file and account of all our dealings with Crest Plc and/or their former subsidiary company, Crest Nicholson Marinas Limited.

Legal issues aside, we believe that the full documented accounts will show that Crest Nicholson Plc is morally responsible for causing everything which has happened to us, including our present ‘homeless’ state. Upon your own diligent enquiry we respectfully hope that you will accept our invitation, to urge Crest Nicholson Plc to reconsider this case on moral grounds.

We kindly draw to your attention a few brief facts, undisputed by Crest Nicholson.

Crest freely invited us, (and we accepted) to live with our young Family, in our own houseboat Home M V Picton, in Penarth Marina, Cardiff Bay, Wales, UK, in January 1997. This was after our meticulous enquiry of many years, (our first enquiry was in 1989), as to the suitability of Penarth Marina providing a berth for our “houseboat”.

On April 2nd 2000 Crest Nicholson Marinas Limited caused a terrifying night time accident to our Home whilst our children were asleep in bed. Marie Louise was also eight months pregnant. Our Houseboat was permitted to become grounded on the marina floor and toppled into the marina pontoons in an uncontrolled manner. It weighed between 33-40 tonnes and it took a heavy, side and bottom impact. Our Home subsequently developed a leak.

We acted with all due diligence to mitigate the loss of that accident and made every effort possible to repair the leak.

Crest Nicholson willfully obstructed us in the sense that they failed to grant permissions, subsequent to that accident, for us to perform what we considered our moral duty; to get our Home repaired - to lift out the boat, fix the leak, and to obtain minimum insurance cover, a minimum condition of all marina contracts.

Crest Nicholson deliberately failed to grant us permission, for us to send down survey-divers, subsequent to the accident they caused.

Crest Nicholson deliberately failed to grant us permission, subsequent to that accident, to haul the vessel at site onto a purpose built Emergency Lift-Out Pad, a lifting area on land adjacent to the marina, which was already established as ‘safe and suitable’, for the type and weight of the vessel. This emergency lift-out pad had been earlier employed by the Royal National Lifeboat Institute (RNLI), for the ‘lifting-out’, of the Barry Dock Lifeboat. This was at a time when Mr Peter Nicholson, Vice Chair of the RNLI was a serving director with Crest Nicholson Plc.

Crest Nicholson knew our home was leaking, taking on water and yet still ignored our requests.

After we had been invited to set up Home, with our firm career choices and commitments clearly declared, and after the accident which Crest Nicholson caused to our Home, Crest Nicholson decidedly changed policy, regarding houseboats in their national marina operations.

John Callcutt Chief Executive Officer of Crest Nicholson, solely responsible for enforcing health & safety in the Crest Group at the time of the accident, wrote to us expressing that his company was “wrong” to have let our Family and our Home into the marina. He admits that his organisation made a mistake.

Crest Nicholson happily accepted all our mooring fees, which were always paid promptly, until such time as they wanted us to leave, returning fees which we had paid, on no less than three occasions.

Crest Nicholson failed, at the highest level, to accept our repeated invitations to enter into any Alternative Dispute Resolution talks.

We believe the matter has been dealt with in a most brutal and heavy handed manner and by our clear losses to date, we believe we have already suffered most undeservedly. To lose our own Family Home and our beautiful way of life is difficult enough to bear but to lose our personal private possessions, in the way that we have, really is quite unbearable.

By association we believe this matter may reflect poorly upon your good selves or upon your respective institutions and we very much regret these events. In the circumstances, we are moved to act in all due regard to our moral conscience. We believe that with our five daughters, we have been shown very little, in terms of ‘respect’ for Family, Home, and Way of Life.

Accordingly, we would be very grateful if you would respond to this appeal with good purpose. Please encourage Crest Nicholson to review this case. If you should have any questions or comments, please contact us immediately.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards,

Yours sincerely,



Vincent & Marie Louise Shalom
The Shalom Family Campaign for Social Justice
Wales

Mobile 07713 954355

Email  wwwnoahsark@aol.com


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------