About the group
The Residents Working Group for Kingsgrove has been going since 2021.
The main purpose of the Residents Working Group is to facilitate better engagement between the main stakeholders of the Kingsgrove Estate Management Company, which is the largest estate management company on site. These stakeholders being St. Modwen (master developer for Kingsgrove), Preim (managing agent), and the residents themselves.
Since it was formed the work of the Residents Working Group has varied slightly, depending on the membership. However, at is core, it is an opportunity to ensure that issues being raised by residents are being given the appropriate attention, as well as receiving updates on the maintenance work that is happening on site.
Matters relating to the planning and development of estate infrastructure e.g. roads, cycle paths, community facilities etc aren’t typically discussed and the influence that the residents representatives have on such matters is extremely minimal. Instead, it is suggested that such matters are e-mailed to community@kingsgrovewantage.co.uk.
Membership
The group was started by St. Modwen and has included representatives from St. Modwen, Preim and residents, as well as the district council’s Community Development Officer.
More recently, representation from the housing associations that operate on Kingsgrove has been requested. At the time of writing, Clarion, Pinnacle (on behalf of L&G) and Soha have offered up representatives, as detailed below. These representatives will be ensuring that the views & issues of their respective tenants are able to be brought to the group, as well as the views of the housing associations themselves.
The group typically meets monthly and the meetings are closed, but input from residents is always very welcome. We understand that the closed nature of the meetings may be frustrating to some, but are looking for ways to ensure transparency.
We are always looking for people to come forward as resident representatives, especially from those areas of Kingsgrove that don’t have specific representation, especially Taylor Wimpey. The only stipulation is that you are a homeowner.
All parties involved share the common goal of making the Kingsgrove development a safe, inclusive and happy place to live.
If you have an issue that you would like raising, please send an e-mail to reps@kingsgrove-residents.co.uk or use the contact page.
Current resident reps
- Josie Bourner
- James Hodgson
- Eve Morgan
- Akos Verebes
Housing association representatives
- Karen Prickett (Soha)
- Sharn Hooper (Soha)
- Carla Bolt (Soha)
- Laura East (Clarion)
- Thasleem Akhtar (Pinnacle Group)
Other members
- Tom Tracy (Preim)
- Davina Masemo (Cratus, on behalf of St. Modwen)
- Imogen Spencer-Dale (Cratus, on behalf of St. Modwen)
Former members
- Anne Richardson (Formerly Wantage & Grove Community Development Officer, Vale of White Horse District Council)
- Please note that as and when a new Community Development Officer is appointed, they will be given an invite to the meetings.
Future plans
As the Kingsgrove community continues to grow, the group is always looking for new members to join our team. It really doesn’t matter if you haven’t had any experience in this type of thing before. All you need is commitment and enthusiasm! The residents of Kingsgrove are privileged to live in a community which has a diverse demographic and the hope for the Residents Working Group is for it to reflect that, with representation from all areas of the development. To find out more, it’s probably best to get in touch with an existing rep.
If you don’t think that being a member of the Residents Working Group is for you, perhaps volunteering to help with various activities and projects around the development would be a good way to test the water. Sign up for that and see where it takes you …