Crown Estate to take over Windsor's Home Park management

The Crown Estate will take over the management of Windsor’s Home Park after ‘decades of neglect’ and ‘underinvestment’ so residents can continue to enjoy the space.

Until 1846, Home Park was used as part of Windsor Castle’s formal gardens, but Queen Victoria allowed the site to be used for recreation.

The Royal Borough currently holds licences which allow it to use the park as well as the Home Park, King Edward VII and Romney Lock car parks associated with it.

Home Park is home to sports clubs such as Datchet Cricket Club, Windsor Rugby Club and the Windsor Forest Bowmen archery club.

But over the years, the condition of the facilities on site deteriorated, with the sports clubs raising issues around the ‘quality of maintenance’ and ‘lack of attention and investment’.

At a Royal Borough cabinet meeting on Tuesday (January 27) councillors agreed to terminate the licences.

The Crown Estate will take over the site’s management – including the car parks – from April 1.

Alternatively, the council would have needed to spend a minimum of £3million and increase maintenance of the grounds, according to a report presented to councillors.

Councillor Mark Wilson (Lib Dem, Eton and Castle) said: “The numbers simply don’t stack up.

“RBWM cannot justify it as a business case to be spending that sort of money [on improvements] with an absence of any security of tenure.

“In theory, legally, we could invest and have it all taken away the next day, so I don’t consider that to be a viable option.”

Speaking at the York House meeting, ward councillor Devon Davies (Lib Dem, Eton and Castle) agreed.

Some of the issues he saw on his visits to the park included sewage backing up into the cricket and rugby clubs, ‘inadequate’ tennis courts and potholes left unrepaired.

Cllr Davies said: “The consistent message was simple. The grounds had not been fit for purpose for many years.

“This administration inherits a very difficult financial position, but it also has inherited sporting facilities and public grounds that have suffered decades of underinvestment.

“The borough simply does not have resources to reverse decades of neglect.”

The meeting heard from representatives of sports clubs based at Home Park who ‘fully’ supported the plans to transfer the management responsibilities for the ‘vital community space’ to the Crown Estate.

Speaking on their behalf, Jane Rowlands, the chairman of the Home Park sports clubs committee, said: “Calls for help to RBWM to address this continuing deterioration are rarely returned.

“[For] many residents, Home Park Public is not just a green space. It’s where children learn teamwork and resilience, where adults maintain fitness and friendships, and where older members of the community remain active and connected.”

Windsor and Maidenhead council is set to lose £450,000 in annual revenue when the change goes ahead, according to the report.

Resident Andrew Hill said “[The] £450,000 annual loss to the council could represent the permanent closure of a library or a theatre. That’s a bit like Robin Hood in reverse.

“The relatively poor residents of the Royal Borough who have served the monarchs loyally for decades and maintained land and held state visits are allegedly receiving what you make sound like an ultimatum from the Crown Estate to give this income back forever.”

Although this is not required, the Crown Estate will pay a one-off £600,000 to help the council address this revenue loss for the first year.

Paul Sedgwick, the deputy ranger of Windsor Great Park and an executive director of the Crown Estate, explained that the question of whether the Crown Estate ‘should, could or indeed would terminate the licences’ is ‘the wrong question to be asking’.

Mr Sedgwick said: “It has never been the Crown Estate or RBWM’s intention to formally terminate the licences as we have from the outset been working closely to reach a mutually agreeable solution whereby the licences are voluntarily surrendered by mutual agreement.

“The Crown Estate would like to take forward this generational opportunity to create a lasting legacy for the residents of Windsor and the users of Home Park.”