Current Position

The following update sets out the work and achievements of the CIC in 2024. We hope this will also reassure the community that the Board of Directors and staff team are making good progress on our Objects and acting in the best interest of the CIC and our community.

LGM CIC has seen a period of great change in 2024 including:

• new management

• a new independent chair of the Board

• four new directors, with a fifth new director from one of our social housing providers to follow shortly, totalling six on the Board

• handing over of Phase 6 landscaping

• the arrival and settling of Preim

• tendering and renegotiating the landscaping contract

• development of a three-year business plan

• creation of an asset register

• Using income from the Pavilion, sports pitches and Community Centre to offset the running costs. This has a positive impact upon the Service Charge

• Increasing facility utilisation from 30% to 35%, by increasing the breadth of services that are offered at Pavilion and Community Centre.

 

The Board and management team has taken time to ensure a strong foundations have been created, embedding strong governance, policies and procedures to provide a solid base from which to move forward.  Building clarity around the CIC’s financial position has been key. 

 

We appreciate that much of this has been happening in the background, so whilst not visible to the community, it has taken time, resource and commitment.  We still have work to do but we are well on the way to having increased resilience to our operations.

 

At the start of the year, the Board had to make some tough decisions about some of the projects which were live at that time, including the Lainey’s Care Farm project and the development of an allotment.  The Board could not be confident that the CIC had the funding to deliver the required works to complete the refurbishment to the old pavilion and therefore decided to put it on hold.  Understandably, Lainey’s Care Farm could not wait until the reconciliation of the finances had been completed and unfortunately therefore stepped away from Leybourne. Whilst this was very disappointing for everyone involved, the Board had to take the time to focus on its priority of stabilising the organisation.

 

Furthermore, it became apparent that the allotment project was not viable in the proposed location.  There was no easy access to parking, The Stables had concerns about cars regularly using the access road and the isolated location was challenging. In the recent survey, provision of an allotment was not a priority for residents’, so we met with Leybourne Parish Council (LPC) who were funding the project, to explain the situation.  We continue to work with Leybourne Parish Council to see whether there are other projects’ that we could work with them on in 2025.

 

The board has also been working on developing a three-year business plan to provide strategic direction to our operations and to ensure we continue to meet local need, including generating income to help manage the Service Charge.

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LGM CIC Governance

LGM CIC is a community organisation whose legal governance structure is a Community Interest Company (CIC).  A CIC is not a charity, but still adopts some of the same safeguards and principles.  CIC’s are regulated by the Office of the Regulator of CIC’s.

 

CIC’s have an asset lock, meaning any assets cannot be sold or transferred without the approval of the Members and Regulator.  LGM CIC has a further restriction in sale of land placed by Homes England (the original owner of the land), meaning that any sale must be approved by them, and they take a reducing financial contribution from any sale over a 50-year period. 

 

The CIC has Articles of Association which include community Objects, governing their roles, responsibilities and activities. Any profit made must go back into providing benefit to the organisation. A CIC is governed by a board of directors who, at Leybourne, are all volunteers and resident members of the development, and must act in the best interests of the CIC. 

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At Leybourne Chase, we have an additional legal guiding document called the Community Trust Declaration which sets out a number of details about the roles and responsibilities of the development including owning and managing land and assets and being guardian of the Estate Covenants.

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Community Development and Engagement

A key guiding principle of the CIC is to work with, engage with and provide activities and programmes to benefit our residents.

 

Over the last ten months, we have;

• Delivered a resident survey to seek views on priorities and need

• Set up a community forum

• Held two AGMs/community meetings (more on that later)

• Carried out a survey about the cows

• Published community newsletters

• Set up and held stakeholder and hirers forums

• Published regular updates on social media, our website and WhatsApp group

• Started building relationships with key stakeholders including Leybourne Parish Council and our TMBC ward members.

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Our aim is to continue this collaboration and engagement and increase our contact with residents to build an even better understanding of resident aspirations and a volunteer base to help deliver even more for the community.

In addition to the engagement work, we have delivered;

• A range of community events (Easter, Halloween, summer events)

• Supported the setup of Leybourne Youth Club

• Supported Leybourne Youth Football Club at their annual event

• And most recently delivered a community Christmas event – our biggest yet!

 

In 2025 we will be seeking external funding to do more activities, together with working with local delivery partners to extend our range of community services.

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2022 and 2023 AGM (community meetings)

In March, the CIC arranged for an AGM covering the 2022 financial year to be held.  This was the postponed AGM from December 2023.

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Unfortunately, due to the low number of resident members in attendance, the meeting was not quorate.  We had no choice but to abandon the AGM however, in its stead, a community meeting was held covering the same topics. 

 

The feedback we received was that, whilst residents were disappointed about the turn out, they valued the conversation with the CIC.  All presentations were posted on our website and notes of the meeting were included too.

 

Shortly before the meeting, the CIC received advice from our legal advisers that leaseholders could not vote.  This was upsetting news to some residents, and we committed to asking our lawyers to review that advice which we have now done.  The lawyers have since corrected their position, sending an apology to the CIC and residents.

 

At the March AGM, the CIC sought to amend the Articles of Association to reduce the percentage of members who needed to be present to achieve quorum (amongst other elements).  As quorum wasn’t reached, the amended Articles were not approved.

 

In the absence of an AGM and in between times, the Articles allow for the Board of Directors to add to their number following an appointment process of their choosing and through making a decision at a formal board meeting.  This has now happened.

 

The CIC will hold an EGM in January 2025 to vote on a redrafted set of Articles which provide for a wider set of amendments. The purpose of this is to bring them into line with current best practice and to ease governance across the organisation.  This EGM will be hybrid to enable more residents to attend.  More on this shortly!

 

The September AGM was to account for the 2023 calendar year.  It is important to note that in that meeting, the CIC must present progress and projects which were live in 2023 as part of the AGM business.  This is why the allotments project (for example) was within the presentation pack but, in reality, had been put on hold in the spring of 2024. 

 

At both meetings, the CIC spent considerable time talking those present through the financial arrangements of the CIC and helping to build understanding of how the CIC’s finances are split with CIC income and expenditure and Service Charge income and expenditure.  This generated a number of clarifying questions from those present which were answered.

 

The CIC has the accounts independently verified by a local firm of accountants so residents can be confident that they are compliant with the relative legislation and a true record.

 

All AGMs are open to all residents and communicated directly through Preim and via a range of other communication channels to ensure as many people are aware of them as possible.

 

We have also received feedback about the timing of the AGM’s. As a result, we now propose to hold the EGM as a hybrid meeting in order to help more people attend.  We know it is difficult to accommodate everybody, but we are seeking to accommodate as many people as possible.  If you have thoughts on what day/time of day would encourage greater attendance or would work better for you, please email us at events@leybournechase.org.  We are keen to receive feedback.

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How the CIC Finances Are Arranged and Managed

The CIC has two funding ‘pots’ which are managed separately: the Service Charge (SC) income and expenditure and the CIC funds.

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The Service Charge income and expenditure are held and managed on a day-to-day basis by Preim, our managing agent.  The CIC Board approve the budget for each financial year. 

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There are rules and limitations around how SC income and expenditure can be used which are also guided by the SC Deed of Covenant.  The rules are generally that the SC income can be used to manage and care for the land, buildings and general estate that the CIC owns and the associated management costs. Preim works to the ARMA code which is a best practice approach for management companies.

 

The income to the CIC which is generated by lettings, hire and leaseholder rent, can be used to deliver on our community Objects to further the work of the CIC, contribute to the management and repair of our assets, fund community development and project activity and support the general running and staffing costs.

 

Prior to 2024, CIC income was retained within the CIC and used for the purposes outlined above. This meant that the costs of running the Pavilion, sports pitches and community centres were being paid for by the SC, but the income was staying in the CIC.  To realign this, in 2024 the CIC’s income from the facilities has been used to offset the cost of the SC.  This means that Preim manages the running costs of the facilities, but the cost is fully reimbursed by the CIC.  Only the surplus remains in the CIC, to fund the purposes outlined above. This change helps to manage the level of Service Charge for the whole community.

 

Management accounts are now produced so that Directors have visibility about the level of sales, costs or operational surpluses.  Robust reporting, analysis and forecasting has been implemented, and this work has subsequently led to a number of initiatives, including:

• Pricing review of facility charges and a review of the discount policy for high volume hirers.

• Analysis of facility utilisation that identified opportunities to increase usage from 30% to 35%, with a target to achieve 40% in 2025.

• Reclaim of Employer National Insurance contributions totalling £12k.

• Monthly reports from Preim have been enhanced to provide greater financial visibility including aged debts, levels of reserves, spend by each of the three schedules (Estate Wide, Woodland Gate Walk and Communal Heating).

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In addition to this the following have been implemented;

• Partnered with Preim to set an Estate Wide Service Charge budget that had no increase in 2024 and then in 2025 it reduced by 10% from £680 to £617 per home.  This is despite significant inflationary pressures and was largely possible following a detailed analysis of sinking funds

• Improvement to increase traffic to the CIC website.  The second stage of this project is now looking at ways to streamline the booking process to make this a better experience for bookers and remove cumbersome administration during the billing process.

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CIC Staffing & Consultancy Costs

The Independent Chair (SallyAnne Logan) is a non-voting, paid position to the Board.  SallyAnne also supports an executive function, supporting the day-to-day operations of the CIC.  The second consultant (Mark Dodson) specialises in finances and management and is a qualified accountant. Both have been commissioned for five days a month – in actual fact they both give more time than this, averaging seven days a month.  Earlier in the year, they were giving us more paid days to help strengthen the foundations and help us stabilise the organisation.

 

The CIC has two permanent staff, both of whom are part time, a finance admin assistant and events coordinator. We also have a cleaner who is self-employed.

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Having tried to recruit to the senior role in the summer with no success, the directors agreed that given the scope of work required over the coming months, and the need to provide some stability, that the two consultants would be retained for the time being.

 

The cost of these consultants, on a monthly basis is a little more than would be paid to the senior role, though the breadth of experience that they bring is deemed value for money. The higher staff costs earlier in the year were contributed to by the higher number of days SallyAnne and Mark were providing to support us, as well the recruitment costs for the admin assistant post.

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Overall Financial and Operational Performance

In the first quarter of 2024, there was a lot of change in staff, processes, plus a steep learning curve to understand the operations, financial opportunities and liabilities.  Consequently, the CIC’s Net Operating Income was a deficit of £31k in the first quarter, however, the forecast for the last 8 months is a surplus of £1k.  This demonstrates that the financial performance of the CIC has improved and the forthcoming business plan will show that much more is to come.  This improvement is due to the expertise and hard work of the staff, volunteers, consultants and Directors.

 

The Future of Our Cows

Kent Conservation Grazing (KCG) have kindly cared for the cows since January 2024 on behalf of the CIC. We know that for many residents, the cows are an important part of the community at Leybourne Chase. 

KCG approached the CIC and requested a licence of six years 364 days to maintain the land and to take ownership of the cows.  This option was presented to the board earlier in the summer alongside a range of other options.  In tandem with this, the CIC has been considering its long-term income generation options and how to safeguard our community assets as part of the business planning process.

 

It was with this in mind that, at that time, a shorter-term licence was felt to be more appropriate.  The first offer was for a one year licence with £1k towards costs and then an amended offer of a two-year licence along with £1k a year towards costs.  This provided a short-term solution for the Board and a level of certainty for the volunteers whilst the CIC completed its proposals.

 

Unfortunately, the volunteers turned this down. Whilst we were disappointed, we understood their decision as it would be challenging to secure many grant funds to care for the cows with a shorter-term licence.

Following Kent Conservation Grazing’s decision, the CIC has researched alternative proposals and is in negotiation with Kent Wildlife Trust (KWT) – a local charity with a strong reputation in conservation management and experience of supporting projects of this nature at scale. 

 

We informed the volunteers some weeks ago that we were awaiting a proposal from KWT and that a board decision would not be made until this had been received. This would enable the board to properly consider the options.   

 

We have now received a proposal which has been discussed by the Board. We will be meeting with the KCG volunteers shortly to discuss this outcome.

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Running in tandem with this, as part of the strategic business planning process, the Board has been researching long-term investments that would enhance our community but also help to manage the Service Charge levels for all residents.

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A key component of our decision to award a shorter-term licence at this stage, is that the Board of the CIC has been exploring opportunities to generate additional income from the land and assets that we own to safeguard and ensure the long-term financial stability of the organisation whilst retaining it for the community. One of these opportunities is to earn an income from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).

 

Earlier in 2024, the government brought in new legislation which binds housing developers to mitigating the impact of housing development on any nature and habitats that are lost through development.  This is called Biodiversity Net Gain.  Developers must provide a minimum benefit of 10% upon the nature value of the site they are developing, before construction begins.

 

Some developers will be able to provide this mitigation on site through the development of nature areas, wildflower meadows, tree planting, orchards and more, but many won’t.  This means they will be looking for ‘offsite’ locations such as Leybourne Chase. For the CIC, which owns 140 hectares of mixed land types, this is an opportunity to enhance our habitat value, meet our sustainable land management objectives in an exemplar way and to earn an income from it.

 

With this in mind, the Board has instructed the first stage of investigative work, delivered by an ecologist, to assess the base line value of the site.  From this assessment, the Board will work with experts to establish which areas of our community would best suit being part of the first phase of work and begin to work with Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council as well as relevant developers.

 

The field, which currently homes the cows and sheep is likely to be included in the first phase of works.  We are unclear as to what this might include as there are likely to be various options open to us. However, it is likely that we will need to move the animals off this field for a period of up to 18 months to enable it to be ploughed and re-seeded with high value plant species to benefit the animals and meet the requirements for BNG. 

 

What we are aiming to do is embed the long-term future of the cows and their value in sustainable land management into this wider, more strategic project which will enhance the biodiversity and habitat value of the site, whilst also generating income to the CIC.  

 

Throughout all of this, the long-term interests of the community have been at the heart of our decision making. We hope the community and volunteers will understand that the board needed to take a more staged approach to the management of this area.

 

As such, a shorter-term initial agreement with Kent Wildlife Trust would provide more certainty for the CIC. They have significant experience in livestock management and can support us in our longer-term plans for this area.  There will still be opportunities for the volunteers to support this work and care for the cows on a day-to-day basis but be supported by the skills and experience of KWT and the existing infrastructure they have as an organisation. 

 

KWT would take full responsibility for the animals and have the flexibility to bring more animals to site or take ours off site to rest the field. They also have an extensive education programme which could potentially be brought to site, and they could also provide training for Kent Conservation Group’s committed volunteers.

 

We would like to apologise to the volunteers for the time this matter has taken. Our priority throughout is to ensure that we do the right thing for the community, the animals, the land and the CIC, and we believe that our plans as outlined above will help to achieve this.