Krinkels has had its chips with Your Waverley?

Sparks flew at Waverley Towers recently when the future of the borough’s grounds maintenance contract was considered.

The debate around the issue revealed more than a few wrinkles in the negotiations with Krinkels (UK)!

Not everyone was entirely convinced that the council should be spending £1m by taking back the maintenance of its grounds “in-house.” Particularly after Tory Leader Cllr Jane Austin reminded her colleagues, with monotonous regularity, that the council’s days are numbered, Jeremy Hunt’s lady-in-waiting gleefully reminds colleagues, many of whom have clocked up decades of loyal service to the borough, that the skids are under them whenever an opportunity arises.

However, she said that spending a million pounds of ratepayers’ money during a period of local authority upheaval was not a sensible or prudent use of taxpayers’ money; she claimed insufficient evidence was provided to make a decision. She questioned the officer’s support and evidence for the change. However, she was told the information had been provided when the decision had been made a year earlier, which she would have been aware of.

Why wasn’t this figure in the Council’s budget?

The Monitoring Officer reminded members who felt they did not have sufficient information to abstain from voting.

The Executive decided in March 2025 to take back control of its grounds maintenance service and to begin functioning on November 1st, 2025. However, to mobilise the service, £1,000,000 was needed to buy machinery, vehicles, equipment, and other essentials.  

Krinkels (UK), formerly Continental Landscapes Limited, was given a twelve-month extension to the grounds maintenance contract, which ceases in November 2025. This follows a previous five-year tenure. 

Cllrs heard that Krinkels’  performance had been positive, with 89%—99% performance receiving incentive payments through established metrics and customer satisfaction surveys. 

Cllr Steve Williams said taking back the contract would lead to a

“more directly managed, efficient, and responsive service. During a period of dramatic change. The decision has already been agreed upon to enable us to be more flexible and provide a greener service.

All that remained was the council’s agreement to spend £1m to provide the tools to do the job. Any future authority would significantly benefit from cost reductions, particularly as many of the borough’s towns and parishes wanted to take ownership of maintaining their own green spaces. It would enable W to manage that process smoothly, which would be challenging with the existing contract. 

However, when Mayor John Ward’s bete noir, Cllr Jerry Hyman, questioned the legitimacy of making the decision without sufficient information and asked if Krinkels had been consulted on the proposed change, he attempted to gag him again! With no success.

Cllr Hyman said: I want to know, have we spoken to Krinkels on this? If I cannot get an answer, then I shall have to ask them myself.  Later, he said:

I have spoken to them; no, they haven’t been spoken to.

Why aren’t we given the alternative option of not spending £1m? I am not against the principle that there are savings, but we are spending that sort of money in the death throws of this council. What am I missing here? How can I justify this expenditure to residents? We have a duty to be prudent. We are entitled to have the answers to our concerns and questions. This happens time and time again.

He argued no decision had been made on the proposal to spend £1m.

“Of course, we have spoken to Krinkels,” said Cllr Steve Williams. This has been a matter of ongoing negotiations. The decision has already been made.

He Drew attention to council papers in August 2024. Krinkels did not anticipate that the contract would be extended or that a further extension was possible. Delaying a decision by spurious assumptions that have now been made would not help the situation. We can vote today in favour, against, or abstain.

Cllr Hyman called for an amendment to defer the Executive’s decision for further scrutiny by the relevant Overview & Scrutiny Committee and for reconsideration at a future date by the Council. His motion was lost by a narrow vote after strong support by others.

Leader Cllr Paul Follows said that despite an opportunity, no request for further scrutiny had been made when the original decision was made a year earlier. ~ He warned that a decision was now “time critical.”

Godalming Town Council had benefitted from doing its own ground maintenance. When Surrey didn’t, as was often the case, they were able to step in. Residents valued this.

“Our crews get out and fix things within a day. The same flexibility is proposed here.”

 Cllr Ward rebutted Cllr Hyman’s earlier claim that Krinkels had not been consulted. He was followed by Waverley head honcho CEO Pedro Wrobels, who seldom intervenes and said that they most definitely had.

Cllr Jacqui Keen said. Councillors were very confused.

We have been told that the Executive had spoken to Krinkels. Cllr Hyman says he has spoken to them, but they haven’t been informed.

Someone here is not telling the truth!

Mayor John Ward said that to clarify the position, the CEO would speak.

CEO Pedro Wrobels   said:

“I can clarify that we have spoken to Krinkels on a regular basis. The Assistant Director in charge, Marcus Harvey, has spoken to the MD  of Krinkels as part of this discussion in the last six weeks and on a frequent basis throughout this process.”.

After a recorded vote, the Motion to spend the £lm was passed by 21 votes for, 14 against, and three abstentions.

Krinkels changed its name from Continental Landscapes in January 2025. Its annual turnover is £48m.