Author’s note: I appreciate that this article is longer than most but I would urge people to read it as it is very important for residents to understand some of the possible implications of this. Please reach out to the reps if you need more information.
It was confirmed at the Kingsgrove Residents Working Group on Thursday afternoon that Wantage Town Council (WTC) have sent a formal letter expressing interest in adopting all of the area of Kingsgrove that lies to the north and east of King Alfred’s Way (aka WELR). I take this to mean all of the “Woodland Walk”, as indicated on the map below.
Engagement with residents
Obviously it is hoped that St. Modwen will choose to engage with residents but it is not known at this stage whether residents will have any say as to whether this goes ahead or not.
Wantage Town Council discussions
Despite being continually told that Wantage Town Council have been discussing this matter in their meetings, I have struggled to find more than one reference to it in the minutes of their meetings. The one reference I have found is from the minutes of the annual meeting of the Wantage Town Council on Monday 13 May 2024, agenda item 24. To save people having to find it themselves, here is the text:
- Confidential
Ownership of public open space at Kingsgrove. Details had been circulated to all members.
The area was Approx 16 hectares and was a distinct space. There is likely to be additional work for staff costs of which could be claimed from S106. There was a question about drainage and the Council area of responsibility. The path would be a maintenance overhead as well. There was a need to understand the ongoing costs. The sums available were outlined. It was suggested that negotiations be opened with the Vale and St Modwen. It was agreed to take this forward. Cllr Crawford and the Clerk to discuss the next steps. It will require a deed of variation for S106 contributions. It was noted that ownership was on 125-year lease.
Action: Clerk & Cllr Crawford
ON THE PROPOSITION OF Councillor Dunford
SECONDED BY Councillor Walters
Impact for residents of Kingsgrove
Superficially it might appear to be only advantageous for residents. After all, the less land that the Management Company (aka ManCo) has to maintain, the less money it needs to charge residents as service charges.
However, it may be a bit more nuanced than that, for a number of reasons.
Funding of Wantage Town Council’s maintenance costs
As indicated in the excerpt from the council minutes above, Wantage Town Council believe they would be able to access funding to cover the costs of maintenance, at least until the development of Kingsgrove is complete. The funding would come from the S106 Kingsgrove Open Space Contributions fund, which is the same fund that the ManCo is able to claim back some of their maintenance costs.
However, a very important difference is that any agreement between St. Modwen and Wantage Town Council would form a separate legal contract to any other. This is per my notes from the Crab Hill Development Forum in January 2024.
This means that although any funding would come from the same source as for the ManCo, Wantage Town Council wouldn’t have to be subject to the same restrictions as the ManCo.
These restrictions include:
- The ManCo can only claim back for work already carried out, rather than being able to access the money beforehand.
- The amount the ManCo can claim back per year is capped at 5% and Vale of White Horse District Council (VoWH) has refused to sanction any increase. More details here.
Particularly relevant to this point is that all of the district councillors representing the Wantage area on VoWH are also councillors on Wantage Town Council and know about the restrictions the S106 Agreement places on the ManCo.
Linked to (2) above, it is interesting to note that the areas chosen by Wantage Town Council are likely to be the ones that require less maintenance than some other areas. The peculiarities of the 5% cap have given rise to a situation where some parcels of land are, in effect, more beneficial (financially) to manage than others. If Wantage Town Council were to take over management of the areas, it would likely mean the ManCo would be able to claim back even less money from the S106 Open Space Contributions Fund than if all of the parcels were equal.
The new contract may not include any caps for Wantage Town Council. It is also not impossible for it to be written in such a way as to allow Wantage Town Council to access funding before work is carried out. This could, theoretically, lead to Wantage Town Council receiving money but not actually carrying out any work.
Given that it is a legal contract, it is unlikely that the contents would need to be made public for scrutiny.
Reduction in service charge
It might not mean as much of a reduction in service charge as might be imagined.
I have asked Tom Tracy from Preim the following questions:
- How much has already been spent by the ManCo on the area in question?
- How much has been spent as part of the contracted costs versus ad hoc expenditure?
- How much has been spent as part of the contracted costs versus ad hoc expenditure?
- How much has the ManCo been able to claim back so far for work carried out on the area?
- What percentage of the total amount already claimed back was because of this area?
- What is the amount budgeted solely for this area based on the full estate budget, i.e. when the whole development is finished?
- What proportion of the service charge is this?
- What proportion of the service charge is this?
- What is the amount budgeted solely for this area based on the current operational budget, i.e. what is actually being collected and spent now?
- What proportion of the service charge is this?
- What proportion of the service charge is this?
- Are there any other costs that might be lower if this land doesn’t need to be managed, e.g. could the tree survey cost less as there would be fewer trees to survey?
- How much of a reduction in service charge could be realistically expected if this area were to be maintained by someone else?
How much maintenance, and to what standard, would actually get done under the management of Wantage Town Council?
This is obviously going to be the most pertinent question for a lot of people. It is also the most likely to divide opinion. Next to Phase 1a is a playground, maintained by the council and some may say that recent photos show it is not in a great state. Other people may well have different experiences of public open space that is maintained by Wantage Town Council.
I am happy to include photos in this article provided:
- they are comparatively recent
- they can be readily attributed to either Wantage Town Council managed land, or ManCo managed land.
Accountability
The current system of the ManCo, with Preim acting as managing agent, does provide a certain level of feedback and accountability of the work carried out across the land maintained by the ManCo. Even though the current directors of the ManCo are from St. Modwen, the Kingsgrove Residents Working Group is able to raise issues and get them resolved quickly. That level of responsiveness is likely to only increase from the point when the directors are residents. After all, any managing agent will want to make sure that they are delivering value for money when it is residents that make the decision as to whether their contract is renewed.
I am not sure that we could realistically expect that level of responsiveness from Wantage Town Council, though I am happy to be persuaded otherwise.
History
There are two points in the history of Kingsgrove that are worth noting.
- The Town Council were offered all of the open space to adopt at the start of the Kingsgrove planning process. They declined and so the ManCo was set up and service charges were made necessary.
- In 2022, at one of the brainstorming / consultation sessions for the Central Park, I was told by a still-serving councillor that the reason for them declining the initial offer to adopt the spaces is that “the council doesn’t have a department for that sort of thing“. I can only wonder what has changed and why.
Additional information welcome
Given the fact that I have included all the points above rather than simply say “This is great as it means we will pay less money!”, I can imagine that some people will say that I am “in Preim’s pocket” etc. This isn’t the case. I simply want to provide residents with as much information as possible so that they can make up their own mind. Additional factual information that should be considered and any factual corrections are welcome.
Please let me know and I will include it in this article.
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