Documents and Downloads

Note: All documents linked on this page are already in the public domain. HGPC has gathered them here for reference purposes only in good faith, and accurate as far as we are aware. Documents and our interpretation should not be relied upon or implied as legal or financial advice. Have more questions? Take a look also at our FAQ

This Page:

  • Phase 1 Documents
  • Phase 2-5 Documents
  • Hunts Grove Extension
  • Marconi Drive Development Documents
  • Bath Road Residents
  • Management Company Documents

Campaign to Abolish Hunts Grove Management Company

Click here to go to the campaign main page and menu

The management strategy and legal basis for Hunts Grove is currently a bit of a mess! Hunts Grove will eventually be 2,500 homes, and thanks to the community governance review and residents' support, all of those homes will be inside Hunts Grove Parish Council boundaries.

There are four distinct areas of Hunts Grove legally, therefore the way residents are treated and the legal basis for management of the public realm differs between those areas.

  • All residents pay council tax, however, that does not cover any maintenance costs currently;
  • All have access to the open spaces, however, some pay nothing currently towards maintenance, others pay considerable sums every year to the Hunts Grove Management Company, which also are providing no maintenance services on-site (at January 2022);
  • There is access to facilities issues that have not yet been solved, for example, the allotments and community building will be managed by the Management Company under the current arrangements, however only certain residents pay into the Management Company, so should those fee payers have preferential access to the facilities? Should residents that don't pay 💰 the Management Company have to pay extra fees to have an allotment or hold a party at the community building?
  • Hunts Grove Parish Council has the vision to remove these differences and have just one village area, where all 2,500 households will have equal access, be treated exactly the same way, and contribute exactly the same as every other household towards the maintenance of the village;

The Five Legal Areas of Hunts Grove

  1. Phase 1 of the development, the first 342 homes were constructed between 2011 and 2015.
  2. Phase 2-5 of the development. Up to 1,408 homes. Phase 2 and 3 were constructed between 2017 and 2021 and are now complete. Phase 4 is under construction by Bovis and Lindon. Crest Nicholson will commence their next development likely starting in 2022 to complete Phase 4. Phase 5 is a separate development area known as the "Farmhouse Triangle", a residential development that will be on land surrounding the old farmhouse near Haresfield Lane.
  3. Hunts Grove Extension, will be up to 750 homes on land south of Haresfield Lane. This is allocated by the planning authority, however, final planning permission has not been submitted by Crest Nicholson yet. This is expected in 2022 or 2023.
  4. Marconi Drive - This is an add-on to the Hunts Grove village, not part of the Hunts Grove master plan. 119 homes were built by Crest Nicholson between 2018 and 2022 and the site sits on the boundary between Hunts Grove Parish (Stroud District) and Quedgeley Town Council (Gloucester City). One-third of homes are within Hunts Grove, with the remainder being Quedgeley.
  5. Bath Road - This is the road that runs from the Hardwicke A38 flyover, past Haresfield Lane, past Costa Coffee, and out to Crosskey's Roundabout. This stretch of road has the original and oldest properties at Hunts Grove. The properties were originally in the Hardwicke Parish Council area, however moved across to Hunts Grove following the community governance review.

Wondering which phase your home is on? We have a useful map and street list here.

The Legal and Planning Documents That Define the Current Arrangements

Hunts Grove Phase 1

The original Section-106 agreement from outline planning permission S.06/1429/OUT was signed in 2008 (copied below). There was a Deed of Variation signed in 2010 that modified some aspects of the 2008 agreement (also copied below).

The Phase 1 homes were constructed between 2011 and 2015. Crest Nicholson attempted to automatically enroll Phase 1 residents into a management company between 2015 and 2017, however, this was challenged by the residents and found to be illegal (as the Phase 1 owners' property deeds did not have consistent wording for the legally binding "Estate Rentcharge", or had no mention of it whatsoever. From what residents shared with the Hunts Grove Residents Association at the time, there were more than 20 different text variations in the deeds. This is covered in more detail at this link.

At the time of writing (January 2022), maintenance of Phase 1 has remained with Crest Nicholson since the start of construction. The Parish Council is expecting to adopt the Phase 1 open spaces and parks during 2022. We are currently negotiating on remedials (developer replacing dead trees, shrubs, etc, repairing footpaths and fences), and the reserve fund to be transferred with the land. Stroud District Council is assisting the Parish with these matters. Finally, the District and Parish Council have requested the developer verify that the SuDS system at Hunts Grove (i.e. the Shorn Brook Corridor floodwater storage ponds and mechanisms) has been built correctly according to the original plans. This is following floods on site in 2019-2021. Documents relating to the proposed adoption are also linked below.

Phase 1 Management Company Challenge

Proposed Adoption of Phase 1 Open Spaces and Amenities by Hunts Grove Parish Council

Hunts Grove Phase 2-5

This area is all of Hunts Grove original planning area, except for the 342 properties of Phase 1. This will be approximately 1,408 homes constructed by Crest Nicholson, David Wilson Homes, Bellway Homes, Bovis Homes, and Lindon Homes. It includes homes that will be built as part of the proposed future Neighbourhood Centre as well as homes to be built by Colethrop Farms Ltd in the area around the old farmhouse (HGPC refer to as Phase 5).

Prior to the commencement of building any homes at Phase 2-5, Crest Nicholson sought to renegotiate many aspects of the master plan, the delivery of infrastructure and amenities, financial contributions, and removing some amenities such as the originally planned Sports Pavilion.

Such renegotiations with the local planning authority are often carried out as a Section-73 planning variation. Crest Nicholson submitted this in 2015 and over the next couple of years discussions progressed with Stroud District Council and others. The final Section-73 was signed in September 2017.

Included in the Section-73 was a proposal to change the adoption and maintenance strategy for Hunts Grove compared to the original Section-106 signed in 2008. The original Section-106 plan would have seen all the public land, amenities, and buildings transferred with the freehold and up to £1.9 million reserve fund contributions, and the District Council would have been responsible for maintenance within the Council Tax charged. Under the renegotiation Section-73, this strategy was replaced by a privately managed leasehold arrangement. Instead of handing the freehold titles to the Council / Community, the landowner would instead retain ownership and provide a 125-yr lease. Instead of the District Council being responsible for long-term maintenance, a residents management company would instead be set up funded by annual service charges paid by the residents. We go into some more detail on the reasoning in our FAQ if you would like to read more.

In summary, this new arrangement benefited all the legal participants, except the residents themselves of course! The District Council at the time would have likely encouraged the developer to find an alternative to adoption as local authorities across the country have been doing the same due to the pressure on their budgets. For the landowner, it provided an opportunity to retain control of the land and buildings as the owner (motivated they say by a desire to ensure the land is protected for the community interest in perpetuity). For the developer, it provided an opportunity to retain control as the only directors of the new management company would be them (through their golden shares) for as long as they see fit.

Documents available below include the Management Company strategy presented to the planning department as part of the Section-73 application, the Section-73 agreement itself, a summary of the renegotiation, and a document outlining the changes to the design. The Section-73 was approved in September 2017 by the planning authority under application S15-1498-VAR

Hunts Grove Extension

Phase 1-5, up to 1,750 homes is the original permitted development at Hunts Grove on land north of Haresfield Lane (see above).

Hunts Grove Extension is the area of land south of Haresfield Lane that is allocated in the local plan for up to 750 homes, taking the Hunts Grove overall total to up to 2,500 homes. There are two landowners of the land south of Haresfield Lane, Colethrop Farm Ltd, and the Pullen Family. HGPC understands that there is a cooperation agreement between the three parties to bring forward "Hunts Grove Extension".

The developer and landowners have not sought planning permission at the time of writing, January 2022. The Parish Council understands that a planning application may be submitted in 2022 or 2023. It is understood there will be an additional primary school built at Hunts Grove Extension, however, the arrangement and scope of open spaces and facilities are not known at this stage. The Parish Council would welcome consultation with the developer and landowner at the earliest possibility.

The open spaces maintenance strategy and ownership are unknown at this stage. Subject to a future vote by Councillors elected at the time, Hunts Grove Parish Council has made it clear to the developer, landowner, and planning authority that it expects to be an integral part of the discussions to determine the long-term maintenance strategy.

Marconi Drive

As mentioned above, the complete site is split into two as it crosses the boundary between Stroud District (Hunts Grove) and Gloucester City (Quedgeley). 33 properties are understood to be on the Hunts Grove side of the boundary. The boundary map is attached below for reference.

Whilst the site is divided across two council areas, the maintenance strategy is combined for the complete site, and is completely separate from Hunts Grove open spaces strategy.

Marconi Drive has its own management company via the Housing Association (Sanctuary).

 

 

Bath Road

As mentioned above, Bath Road is home to the only original and oldest properties at Hunts Grove (except for the farmhouse). There are approximately 20 residential and business properties.

The properties do not pay service charges to Hunts Grove Management Company and have no liability to do so. In the event that the HGPC campaign is successful, one impact will be a higher precept (council tax) for these residents. HGPC wants to ensure that no residents are disadvantaged from our proposals and look forward to engaging with Bath Road residents on the matter. Phase 1 residents are another potentially advantaged or disadvantaged group of residents depending on whether our campaign is successful. In that case, HGPC would consider creating a "ward" in the Parish that enables residents to be charged a different Parish precept in their council tax (this is discussed further elsewhere on this website). Unfortunately, it is not possible to set up a ward for such a limited number of homes.

Bath Road residents are an integral part of Hunts Grove and will enjoy the establishment of vast areas of parks and open spaces, community facilities, and sports pitches that were not there before. Under Parish proposals, Bath Road residents would have equal access and status to the village facilities, rather than being an outsider from the management company.

The Parish Council will seek a solution that works for all and, where it is within our control, will ensure that no resident is disadvantaged.

Hunts Grove Management Company & Managing Agent Documents

Hunts Grove Management Company Limited (HGMCL) was registered as a Limited Company with Companies House on 21 September 2010 under Company Number 07382772

Hunts Grove Management Company Limited (HGMCL) is a company 100% controlled and operated by Crest Nicholson. Crest Nicholson appointed Preim Limited in 2017 as the managing agent to administer HGMCL, collect service charge fees and eventually provide maintenance services on-site at Hunts Grove. This was an initial 5-year contract, however, we now understand this is renewed automatically on a 6-month rolling basis.

Preim Limited was registered as a Limited Company with Companies House on 4 May 2011 under Company Number 07620968

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