Block Management in Gillingham
Six flood warning areas, because three fast-responding watercourses meet at the town.
Our Gillingham service covers block management, estate management and leasehold administration for RMCs, RTM companies and freeholders. The town sits where the Stour, the Lodden and the Shreen Water meet, with six warning areas and major floods recorded in 1979, 1982, 2000, 2012 and 2014. Heritage is light by comparison: 60 listed entries and no Grade II* anywhere in the parish.
What We Would Put First for a Block in Gillingham
Match the Block to Its Warning Area
Six areas cover the Stour, the Shreen Water and the Lodden, naming Wyke Street, The Square, Rawson Court, Chantry Fields, Bay Road and Bridge Close among others. We would establish which applies and disclose it when placing and renewing insurance.
InsurancePlan Reserves Around Defence Standards
Defences vary widely: Shreen Water walls built in 1985 to a 1 in 100 year standard, a Stour wall to 1 in 25 and an embankment by Brickyard Lane to 1 in 2. We would reflect a block's position behind them in reserve planning.
Reserve fundsIdentify the Right Conservation Area
Gillingham, Milton on Stour, Wyke and Colesbrook are separate conservation areas, and only Wyke and Colesbrook have appraisals. We would confirm which applies to a block and obtain any consent before specifying external works.
ConsentsManaging a Block in Gillingham at a Glance
- Local authority
- Dorset Council
- Authority type
- Unitary
- Building control
- Dorset Council Building Control
- County
- Dorset
- Fire and rescue service
- Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service
- Water and sewerage
- Wessex Water
- Setting
- Inland
What It Costs to Move a Block in Gillingham to Us
Management is a fixed annual fee, quoted for the building and agreed before we start. We take no commission and no third-party incentives, so the fee is the whole of what we earn from the building. Taking a block on carries a one-off start-up fee, set by size:
| Block size | Fee |
|---|---|
| Start-up fee, up to 10 units | £420.00 |
| Start-up fee, up to 25 units | £540.00 |
| Start-up fee, 50 units and above | £660.00 |
Taken from our published Additional Services price list, PBM Form #01-27 rev.6, effective 23 June 2025. All fees quoted are inclusive of VAT. See the full price list and how a handover works.
Three Watercourses Converge Under Six Warning Areas
Gillingham has six Environment Agency flood warning areas, the most of any Dorset town covered here, and the reason is geographic: the town sits at the confluence of three watercourses, the River Stour, the River Lodden and the Shreen Water. Three areas cover the upper Stour through the town, between them naming Wyke Street, The Square, South Street, the High Street, Rawson Court, Chantry Fields, St Martin's Square and Barnaby Mead. One covers the Shreen Water at Bay Road and Bay Fields, another the Shreen from Colesbrook to Bay Bridge naming Lodbourne, and the sixth covers the River Lodden at Bridge Close. Sixteen Environment Agency flood risk zone polygons intersect the parish, nine of them Flood Zone 3 and seven Flood Zone 2. The made neighbourhood plan explains the mechanism plainly: the town is located on the confluence of three steep, fast responding watercourses draining large agricultural catchments, with major flood events recorded in 1979, 1982, 2000, 2012 and 2014. The council's strategic assessment describes the defences precisely: walls on both sides of the Shreen Water east of Barnaby Mead built in 1985 to a 1 in 100 year standard and rated between good and fair, a small wall on the south bank of the Stour to a 1 in 25 year standard rated fair, and an embankment by Brickyard Lane to a 1 in 2 year standard. The neighbourhood plan notes that schemes have been implemented over the last twenty five years to reduce flood risk but names, dates and costs none of them, and no named scheme is published anywhere. One thing to avoid: Gillingham Royal Forest is a medieval hunting forest and a woodland planting and countryside recreation policy in the neighbourhood plan, not a flood scheme.
The Lowest Flat Share of the Dorset Towns Covered
The Gillingham ward held 6,963 households at the 2021 Census with 659 in flats, 9.5 per cent, made up of 483 in purpose-built blocks, 58 in a converted or shared house, 72 in another converted building and 46 over commercial premises. That is the lowest flat share of the Dorset towns covered here, well under half the England average of 22.2 per cent. The combination is what makes it interesting: this is the second largest ward in Dorset, nearly three times the county median, and simultaneously the one with the smallest proportion of flats, which describes a large, low density, house dominated settlement.
Four Conservation Areas, but No Appraisal for the Town
Four conservation areas fall within the parish, which is a lot for a town with this little listed building stock. Gillingham itself was registered on 3 May 1985 and designated on 9 April 1985; Milton on Stour was designated on 6 January 1995; Wyke was designated on 21 May 2012; and Colesbrook was designated on 26 September 2017 and registered on 2 October. Appraisals exist for Wyke and Colesbrook only, and notably there is no adopted appraisal for the Gillingham area itself, with the council directing enquiries to the Dorset Historic Towns Survey instead. Motcombe's conservation area lies in a separate parish and should not be counted here.
60 entries on the National Heritage List fall inside the parish, one Grade I and the other 59 all Grade II, with no Grade II* building anywhere in Gillingham. The single Grade I is the Church of St Mary. Only 29 of the 60 sit inside the town's own conservation area. That is comfortably the lowest heritage density of the Dorset towns covered here, and it pairs with the flood finding to give the town an unusual profile: a great deal of water and very little listed fabric, which is close to the opposite of Sherborne twenty miles away. No council-published count exists, so these figures are computed from Historic England's open data.
Only the Two Lowest Radon Classes Appear
The lowest band, alongside Blandford Forum. The town centre returns the lowest class on the UK Health Security Agency and British Geological Survey mapping, where the published wording is that all parts of the square are in the lowest band with under 1 per cent of homes at or above the action level, and the advice given is that radon measurement is not advised. Across the surrounding squares only the two lowest classes appear.
That is national advice about the ground, not about the building. The same map excludes basements, cellars and underground spaces at every band, so an enclosed plant room, undercroft or lower-ground flat is still worth a look even here, and whatever is found belongs with the compliance record.
Neighbourhood Plan Carried by 91 Per Cent of Voters
Decided under the North Dorset Local Plan Part 1, adopted 15 January 2016, with saved policies from the 2003 district-wide plan. Gillingham carries its own strategic site allocation, added through that plan, against a district housing requirement of 5,700 for 2011 to 2031. The Gillingham Neighbourhood Plan was made on 27 July 2018, covering the civil parish only, after examination by David Kaiserman who reported on 4 April 2018 and a referendum on 12 July 2018 in which a majority of 91 per cent of those voting were in favour. The exact vote counts and turnout are not published, because Dorset Council publishes referendum result pages only from 2019 onward. There is no Article 4 direction: none of the 78 directions in the council's register names Gillingham, Wyke, Colesbrook or Milton on Stour.
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Gillingham Questions
How Often Has Gillingham Flooded?
The made neighbourhood plan records major flood events in 1979, 1982, 2000, 2012 and 2014, and explains that the town sits on the confluence of three steep, fast responding watercourses draining large agricultural catchments. Sixteen flood zone polygons intersect the parish, nine of them Flood Zone 3. The plan notes schemes implemented to reduce flood risk, but none is named, dated or costed anywhere.
Is There an Article 4 Direction in Gillingham?
No. None of the 78 directions in Dorset Council's register names Gillingham, Wyke, Colesbrook or Milton on Stour. Applications are decided under the North Dorset Local Plan Part 1, adopted on 15 January 2016, with saved policies from 2003, and the Gillingham Neighbourhood Plan made on 27 July 2018 after a referendum in which 91 per cent of those voting were in favour.
What Guidance Applies to a Block in the Gillingham Conservation Area?
There is no adopted appraisal for the Gillingham conservation area itself, which was designated on 9 April 1985, and the council directs enquiries to the Dorset Historic Towns Survey instead. Of the parish's 60 listed entries, only 29 sit inside the area. The single Grade I is the Church of St Mary, and the other 59 entries are Grade II.
Nearby Areas
Talk to Us About Your Building in Gillingham.
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