Please note: The Redgrove Park Management Co Ltd is a ‘Company Limited by Guarantee’. It has Members, not shareholders. Each property on the Estate is, in effect, a Member and its owner/s have one vote at Company meetings. ‘Residents’ are all people living on Redgrove Park who may, or may not be Members of the Company. Similarly, some Members do not live on the Estate itself.
- Redgrove Park is a private estate. Upon purchase, the owner of each property is issued with a Certificate of Membership, and a copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association (originally “Maple (8) Limited”) of Redgrove Park Management Company Ltd (RPMC).
- This company, Limited by Guarantee, was incorporated to manage and maintain the common, private, areas and services of the estate: the roads, footpaths, street lights, boundary fencing and walls, entrance gates, woodland, amenity areas, the electricity substation building, and the drains leading to and including the sewage pumping station.
- According to the developer’s stated aim, the freehold of the common areas was transferred to the owners of Redgrove Park properties collectively once the sale of the last property was completed. That sale took place in 1996. A small group of residents, comprising the Redgrove Park Management Liaison Committee then worked, with legal assistance, to secure the transfer of the Company to the owners of properties in Redgrove Park. This transfer took place on 30 March 2001. The new Directors of the Company were appointed from among former members of the Redgrove Park Management Liaison Committee, resident on the Estate.
- The Committee decided to appoint a professionally qualified Company Secretary who was not a resident. This arrangement has been in force ever since.
- The Committee also decided to appoint an independent Estate Manager, to be responsible for the management of maintenance and other contracts. The appointment of a Company Secretary, and an Estate Manager was confirmed by the new board of Directors of RPMC Ltd.
- In practice, therefore, any general problems concerning, for example, loose granite setts, blocked surface water drains, failure of sewage pumps, etc should be referred to the Ash & Co, 1-7 Kew Place, Cheltenham, GL53 7NQ; Tel: 01242 237274 (for the attention of Ben Graham, Redgrove Park Estate Manager) – and not to the Directors.
- The Company has appointed its own Solicitors and Auditors; details of these appointments can be found on the last page.
- RPMC Ltd holds an Annual General Meeting (AGM) notice of which is prepared and sent out by the Company Secretary, at least 21 days in advance of the meeting. All Members of the Company (but not residents who are not Members) have a right to attend the AGM and to put or vote on resolutions arising at such meetings. There is one vote per property.
- The formal business of the AGM is to receive the report of the Directors and also the Company’s accounts, for adoption; to appoint or re-appoint the external accountants and approve their remuneration (or authorise the Directors to do so) and to appoint or re-appoint the Directors. Directors must be Members of RPMC Ltd, and therefore property owners in Redgrove Park; they must also be resident in Redgrove Park.
- The Company’s financial year runs 1 April-31 March.
- Other business may also be included in the agenda of an AGM. One such item is to determine, each year, the level of the service charge, or ‘rent charge’. As a private estate, a service charge is levied upon each property to pay for the current management and maintenance services of the common areas and services of Redgrove Park, and towards the longer-term maintenance requirements such as road surfacing, replacing fencing, or upgrading facilities, for example the renewal of equipment in the pumping station, or planting of new trees and shrubs.
- The service charge is payable quarterly, in advance.
- Accounts have to be provided at the AGM each year. Information will be provided to show how much income from the service charge will need to be generated to ensure sufficient funds, not only for the outlay over the following 12 months, but also to maintain the sinking (or reserve) funds, towards the cost of longer-term maintenance, at an appropriate level.
- The service charge is levied on the property, not the occupier or occupiers. Therefore, when a property changes hands it is important that solicitors are instructed to ensure that the new owners are legally instructed to pay the service charge. Any resident undertaking their own conveyancing of a property sale or purchase must ensure that these legal requirements are met, and that the contract documentation includes copies of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of Redgrove Park Management Company Ltd.
- The Company has contractual arrangements with local firms for the maintenance of the common areas (woods, commonly owned lawns, etc); the maintenance of street lights; the roads and paths within the Estate; and the surface water drainage system. The sewage system and pumping station are the responsibility of Severn Trent Water. With regard to the sewage system and pumping station, residents can greatly aid STW by adhering strictly to the rule that the system is designed to cope solely with human wastes, and not such items as disposable nappies, sanitary towels, and items composed of cloth or plastic (including condoms, ‘J-cloths’, cotton buds, etc) as well as cooking fats and paints, all of which can congest the pumps and lead to expensive breakdowns.
- Residents are asked to use their own drives and hard standing for parking their vehicles, and to avoid parking in roads wherever possible; also, not to park vehicles on the pavements which are not designed to take the weight of motor vehicles. The Estate roads are for the use of vehicles (cars, bicycles, delivery vans, etc) and should not be used for playing games, riding scooters etc, on grounds of safety, particularly where there is no separate pavement.
- In general, residents should refer problems regarding the management of the estate to ash & Co in the first instance, not to the Directors.