'Needs of community groups will be considered' as public buildings sold off, Peterborough council's new administration says

The “needs of community groups” will be taken into consideration as Peterborough City Council (PCC) chooses which public buildings it will sell off, its new administration has said.

The council has drawn up a list of 79 community centres, children’s centres, contact centres, libraries, leisure facilities and green spaces it’s considering disposing of to save cash.

The list, which is yet to be made public, was drawn up under the previous Conservative administration, but work on assets disposal will continue under its new Peterborough First (PF) leadership.

Cllr John Howard (PF, Hargate and Hempsted), cabinet member for corporate governance and finance, said that, “at all times, the needs of community groups will be considered and local ward councillors will also be kept informed” as buildings undergo the process of changing hands.

He added that, while “spaces that are surplus to requirements will be sold”, the council’s focus will be on “strengthening the remaining spaces with investment where needed”.

This could help save £400k a year as the council faces a growing budget gap, he added, with some of the money being reinvested into the maintenance of the community buildings which are retained.

Around a third of buildings will be repurposed

Cllr Howard also revealed that, at present, there is a proposal to repurpose 28 of the 79 buildings.

We also know from previous council reports that the list contains 36 community centres (or similar), 17 children’s centres, 10 libraries, seven leisure facilities and nine marked ‘other’.

But some councillors – particularly Cllrs Christian Hogg (Liberal Democrats, Fletton and Stanground) and Nick Sandford (Liberal Democrats, Paston and Walton) – have said at successive council meetings that the list of assets should be published and questioned the level of transparency around the sell off.

Cllr Hogg repeated this concern to PCC’s new leaders – who govern with a minority administration supported by other council groups including the Lib Dems – this week.

Questions remain over transparency

The list needs to be released so that stakeholders can put forward a case for saving their particular asset, he told leader Cllr Mohammed Farooq (PF, Hargate and Hempsted) and his cabinet at their first official meeting.

He also said that the sale of each individual asset should be brought back to them for further discussion and sign off, rather than just those worth over £500k as is currently the plan.

But the list at present remains exempt from the press and public.

PCC stresses that no decisions about any of the individual assets have yet been made.