Peterborough community buildings facing sale and repurposing

Seven community buildings owned by a council are to be sold off or repurposed. 

Peterborough City Council said it cannot afford to bring the buildings up to standard - and needed to make sales to help balance the budget.

On Monday, the cabinet agreed to sell buildings with plans for one of them to become temporary housing, if planning permission is approved.

Work to begin the process can begin, but some cases warrant negotiations. 

In Thorney, the council said the library and food bank, which runs inside the community centre, would need to be relocated before any sale is finalised. 

The council, which is led by the Peterborough First group as a minority administration, plans to sell Walton Community Centre to an education provider, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Another asset for sale, Gladstone District Community Association, will remain in 318 Gladstone Street, but under a new building owner, it said. 

The council also plans to sell 30 Cromwell Road, which houses community care services, and lease Stafford Hall Community Centre to a third party, as well as open a new children's and family hub in Dogsthorpe Community Centre. 

Welland Contact Centre will be converted into temporary housing if planning permission is approved.

The seven buildings form part of a wider review of all of the council's assets.

Currently, a list of 28 community centres, leisure facilities and libraries are being looked at by the council, with a view to some of them being sold or repurposed. 

Others on the list include the Regional Pool, Eye Youth Centre and Library - and Paston Farm. 

Council leaders said some of the money from sales would be reinvested into community services. 

At this week's cabinet meeting, they added that they were pushing for the council to designate a "grant finder" to spot government grants community groups could apply for. 

Deputy leader councillor John Howard explained that this person would be "specialised, dedicated and full time". 

"The responsibility is currently spread across different departments and different officers and what this would try to do would be to bring it into one role who's more centralised and aware of the wider portfolio," he said. 

The council's assets review began last year and will continue throughout 2024.

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