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.
Wantage Town Council’s offer
On Thursday 16 April 2025, the following post appeared on the local Liberal Democrats Facebook page during the run-up to the county council elections on Thursday 1 May. The wording of the post is verbatim but the highlighting of certain words / phrases is mine. Please note that Crabhill is the original name of the area where Kingsgrove now is and the two terms can be thought of as interchangeable.
Crabhill Community Open Space and Wantage Town Council
We were delighted that Wantage Town Council determined on Monday, 14th April to take responsibility for a significant proportion of the green open space at Crabhill. At the meeting it was agreed that the Council would now seek a formal variation to the legal agreement which currently places responsibility on the St Modwens Management Company – and hence is a direct cost to residents through the management fees they have to pay – so that instead these costs would be borne by the Council. The land in question is primarily the Woodland Walk area and the Council has acknowledged that this is clearly a facility available to all local residents and it is only fair that the costs should not fall only on Crabhill residents. Both St Modwens and the Vale of White Horse District Council seem to be amenable to this change which will cover over 50% of the total Open Space.
We are well aware of how residents’ maintenance fees have mushroomed over the past few years. The law, as it stands, prevents residents taking over the Management Company until such time as the Estate is fully built out which is clearly likely to be some years. But once that point is reached residents can become directors of the management company and have direct control over costs and standards. We gather also that Wantage Town Football Club will be taking over most of the Central Park area including the football pitches, pavilion and Multi-Use Games Area and the Town Council had already agreed to take responsibility for the Allotments and Community Orchard in this area. Together these measures should help in significantly reducing costs to Crabhill.
#kingsgrove #wantage #kingsgrovecommunity #housingdevelopment
Published and promoted by A Crawford on behalf of J Hanna and J Hannaby, both at C5 Grange Court Business Park, Barton Ln, Abingdon OX14 3NB
It should be noted that the reference to “St. Modwens Management Company” is incorrect. I firmly believe that this should be a reference to the Kingsgrove Estate Management Company instead.
(Overly) Brief summary
It is only natural, having read the Facebook post quoted above, if residents of Kingsgrove felt that service charges would reduce significantly should this offer from Wantage Town Council be accepted and implemented.
However, unfortunately, the reality is far more nuanced than that. In fact, it is not entirely out of the question that residents might even see an increase on the service charge of recent years as a direct result of this scheme being implemented. This would be down to a significant reduction of the amount being able to be claimed from the S106 Open Space Contributions Fund and thus given back to residents through the form of a rebate.
Even if residents don’t see an increase in service charges, it certainly cannot be assumed that the reduction in service charge would be the same as the percentage of open space in Kingsgrove taken over by the council. This is because of several factors, not least of which is the fact that not all areas of “open space” cost the same to maintain per unit area.
Disclaimer
By trying to highlight and explain the nuances of this potential change, rather than simply saying “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 am not paid currently, nor ever have been, by St. Modwen, Preim or any other organisation involved in the upkeep of Kingsgrove.
If anyone is aware of any data / fact that shows part of this article to be misleading or confusing, please let me know as soon as possible and I will update this article as soon as is practical.
Further background
In August 2024 it became apparent that Wantage Town Council (WTC) had sent a formal letter expressing interest in adopting all of the area of Crabhill (aka Kingsgrove) that lies to the north and east of King Alfred’s Way (aka WELR). I took this to mean all of the “Woodland Walk”, as indicated on the map below, and haven’t been contradicted so far.
The Facebook post in more detail
Scope of announcement
- It should be noted that Wantage Town Council were offered the chance to take on the whole of Kingsgrove at the very start of the development. It was their refusal to do this that mandated the need to create Kingsgrove Estate Management Company in the first place. Interestingly I have been told by a serving Wantage Town councillor the reason for them declining the initial offer to adopt the spaces was that “the council doesn’t have a department for that sort of thing“.
- What was behind this decision to only take on certain areas of open space in Kingsgrove and not others? The argument that the Woodland Walk is “a facility available to all local residents and it is only fair that the costs should not fall only on Crabhill residents” could equally be said of the areas running through the middle of Kingsgrove and the play park. Yet these areas are not being considered.
Central Park area
The comments directly linking entities taking on responsibility for things like football pitches, allotments and the community orchard and residents seeing reductions in service charges are misleading.
- Football pitches and pavilion – Wantage Town Football Club have been in discussions with St. Modwen for a number of years about taking on the football pitches and pavilion. Although things are not yet completely finalised, it is highly likely that this will happen. However, because it has always been the aim to get a local sports club involved, the pitches and pavilion have never been part of the area that the management company were planning to take on and so have never been part of any budget. To claim that Wantage Town Football Club taking on responsibility for the pitches will contribute towards significantly reducing costs to Crabhill is disingenuous.
It is true, though, that if WTFC don’t take on the pitches, residents would certainly see a rise in service charges as the cost of management of the pitches etc would need to be covered by the management company. However, this is not the same as residents seeing a reduction of service charge if WTFC do take the pitches on. - Allotments – in a similar argument to that about the football pitches, it was always the idea for the allotments to be maintained under the auspices of Wantage Town Council and, again, they have never featured in any (recent) budget of the management company.
- Community orchard – unlike the allotments and the football pitches, I cannot say for certain whether the management company has ever included the community orchard in the list of things that will ultimately require the service charge to pay for. However, I have reached out to Preim for confirmation on this particular point.
Impact on service charge
Understandably, most Kingsgrove residents will only be interested in whether the implementation of Wantage Town Council’s offer will lead to a reduction in service charge.
At its most basic form, the service charge is the amount needed to cover the costs of the management company, after any additional income the management company may have is taken into account.
For Kingsgrove, that additional income is from the S106 Open Space Contributions fund. This is a fund that Kingsgrove Estate Management Company can claim from with respect to work carried out on the open spaces within Kingsgrove. There are various restrictions, not least that any balance left in the fund when development on Kingsgrove ceases (likely 2031) will be transferred to the District Council. More information can be found here.
After 2031 the only income that the Kingsgrove Estate Management Company will derive will be from the service charges paid by residents. Before then there are some additional commercial enterprises opening, as well as an additional 34 units over the initial planning application. All these will contribute to the Kingsgrove Estate Management Company. I have asked Preim if the anticipated service charge contributions from these enterprises have been included in any budget so far. If they haven’t, the contributions that these enterprises would make could go towards very small reductions in the service charge,
Cost of maintenance
Using some data from August 2024 about the costs of maintaining the open spaces handed over to the Kingsgrove Estate Management Company and those specifically for the Woodland Walk, we see that:
- The cost of the landscape maintenance of the areas of Kingsgrove that had been already been handed over to the management company was approximately £92,500.
- Of this, approximately £18,600 was allocated to the Woodland Walk.
This allocation reflects the proportion of time and resource spent in that area relative to the rest of the estate. While the Woodland Walk covers a large area, the ongoing maintenance it requires is lower compared to more intensively managed parts of the estate, such as grassed or planted areas. Most of the woodland is made up of natural habitat, and the role of the landscaping contractor there is more limited—focusing mainly on seasonal spraying and clearance.
Admittedly, the higher-cost items, such as tree replacement, tree maintenance and the hard landscaping, are accounted for separately. So far, tree maintenance has been minimal, largely due to the young age of the trees and the stages of handover. However, it is expected that these costs will increase over time, which is why reserves are being built up now, so as to avoid sharp increases in the service charge in future years.
If these areas are transferred to the council, this would be reflected in all relevant parts of the annual budget, including the reserve contributions. I have contacted Preim to understand if their management fee would also reduce to reflect the need for less maintenance.
Reclaiming money from the S106 Open Space Contributions Fund
As stated before, until all development on Kingsgrove has been completed, Kingsgrove Estate Management Company can claim money from the S106 Open Space Contributions fund. The peculiarities of how KEMC are able to claim the money have given rise to a situation where some parcels of land are, in effect, more beneficial (financially) to manage than others. It is interesting to note that the areas chosen by Wantage Town Council are likely to be the ones that fall into this category.
Again using figures from August 2024, Kingsgrove Estate Management Company were able to claim a rebate of approximately £75,000 in that particular accounting year. If the Town Council did take over, for example, “50% of the total open space“, as stated in the Facebook post, this would lead to a reduction of money able to be claimed, meaning that only approximately £37,500 could be claimed.
In this scenario, residents would be worse off overall as the amount able to be claimed, i.e. income, would reduce by £37,500 but the cost would only be reduced by £18,400.
Once the S106 Open Space Contributions Fund has closed, however, residents would no longer receive any rebates, as they do now. As such, any costs borne by other entities, such as Wantage Town Council would result in a more straightforward “saving” for residents.
Please be aware that these figures are not precisely accurate and everyone involved recognises more work is needed in proper analysis of the actual figures involved but it should provide some evidence that the offer from Wantage Town Council won’t necessarily end up saving Kingsgrove residents as much money as it might first appear.
Wantage Town Council meeting
One reference I found from the minutes of the annual meeting of the Wantage Town Council on Monday 13 May 2024, agenda item 24 shows something quite interesting. To save people having to find it themselves, here is the text (highlighting is mine):
- 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
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 Kingsgrove Estate Management Company (KEMC) 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 KEMC, Wantage Town Council wouldn’t have to be subject to the same restrictions as those that apply to KEMC.
These restrictions include:
- KEMC can only claim back for work already carried out, rather than being able to access the money beforehand.
- The amount KEMC 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 Kingsgrove Estate Management Company.
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.
Accountability
The current system of the Kingsgrove Estate Management Company, 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 KEMC.
Even though the current directors of Kingsgrove Estate Management Company are from the developers, 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.
Engagement with residents during this process
When Wantage Town Council first suggested that they be allowed to take over the woodland walk I sought assurances that residents would be involved in any process of deciding to accept the offer.
I was told that it was the desire of St. Modwen that residents be involved in any decision. Things have moved on in a number of different ways since that initial contact so I have re-sought clarification on the matter. This article will be updated as and when any commitment (or otherwise) is given.
Summary
Whilst I am not sure that the overall proposal would lead to an increase in service charge, the figures from August 2024 should at least show residents of Kingsgrove that their automatic, and entirely understandable, train of thought that “50% less land to manage” means “the service charge will reduce by 50%” may not be accurate.
Updates to this article
- Added comments raised by a resident, acknowledging that there are other fees associated with the maintenance of the Woodland Walk, not just the landscaping costs, as well as clarifying the S106 Open Space Contributions Fund has a finite life (2025-04-20 21:30)
- Removed “How much maintenance, and to what standard, would actually get done under the management of Wantage Town Council?” section after resident informed me that the example provided wasn’t in the care of WTC (2025-04-21 09:15)
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