Security gates Q&A 10-18

10. Is there any risk of the gate closing too soon and hitting someone’s car as they go through? - There will be safety cells on both sides of the gates. These are infrared beam-based devices that prevent gates from closing on people or vehicles.

11. We’ve been told we have to pay for fobs, is this true? - No, every home will get two free fobs. They should last a lifetime but If you lose one it would be £50 to get a replacement and have it reprogrammed.

12. Can we buy extra fobs and give them to carers/family members? - Unfortunately this is not going to be possible. The spare fobs are to replace broken/lost fobs.

With the facility of 3 contact numbers on the system, carers and relatives should always be able to get in touch with the resident to open the gate. However, if there’s no reply from any of the contacts they can press the office button.

That said, if you don’t drive or you are housebound, there’s nothing to stop you giving your fobs to family members/carers.

13. How will the posties/bin collectors get in? - They can just press the button to buzz the office. There is also the option for the office to set up a PIN to open the gates and should they wish to use this feature that can give it out to people like posties/bin collectors.

14. Who is fitting the gates? - Perimeter Automations. They are the chosen gate installer for big companies like Balfour Beatty, Churchill Retirement Living and Conways. The company has multiple accreditations including the government’s own Construct Line which checks contractors to make sure they reach the required standard.

15. Where will the reader for the fob and intercom be? - The gates will be near to the top of the drive just before where the site map is. The reader will be on the right as you drive up so that people can open their driver window to fob themselves in. Obviously, if we’re coming up the drive and we see a car coming through the gates then it’s common sense to wait until they’ve come through and then approach the fob reader.

Who pays for the calls from the intercom machine to the residents phone? - There’s no cost to us. The phone line that makes the call is the company’s.

16. Who is paying for the install? - 100% of the cost will be down to Regency Living and it’s not being charged back to residents.

17. Why do we need gates? - At the end of the day, it’s about making things safer for residents (and they’re likely to add value to our homes too). Most of you will know we’ve had an increase in unwanted guests on site over the last year. But did you know we’ve also had quite a bit of reported crime too! We think most people will be happy with the minor inconvenience of having to buzz a few people in if it helps make the site that little bit safer for everyone.

Of course we'll never eliminate 100% risk. But even if we eliminate 50% with gates, that's clearly better than the position we have now with no security.