Peterborough council's new leaders 'slowing down' review that could see community buildings sold

Peterborough City Council’s (PCC) new administration says it’s “slowing down the pace” of an assets review that could see community buildings sold off to save cash.

Cllr John Howard (Peterborough First, Hargate and Hempsted), the council’s deputy leader, has taken charge of the review and says nothing will be sold this year.

“No decisions will be looked at until after the new year when we’ve met every community group individually,” he said. “Then we’ll come forward with proposals when we’ve done that part.”

As part of the review, which began under the previous Conservative administration, the council has drawn up a list of 79 community buildings it could potentially dispose.

This list has not been published, but we know that it contains 36 community centres, 17 children’s centres, 10 libraries, seven leisure facilities and nine buildings marked ‘other’.

Other parties pushing for new approach

Peterborough First has been encouraged to take this approach by other parties in the council which it will have to rely on for support in major votes, as a party of 11.

The Liberal Democrats, particularly, have been campaigning to have the list made public, which leader Cllr Christian Hogg (Liberal Democrats, Fletton and Stanground) says they’ll continue to do.

But there’s been a “sea change”, in approach he said, since Cllr Mohammed Farooq (Peterborough First, Hargate and Hempsted) took charge of the council after a vote of no confidence saw the end to Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald’s (Conservatives, West) leadership.

Now every asset will be considered individually by the council’s cabinet before potentially being sold, Cllr Hogg says.

“The new administration, with advice from partners, realises that this is a sensitive subject and can’t just be left to officers,” he said.

Green Party leader Cllr Nicola Day (Greens, Orton Waterville) also says that her group pushed Peterborough First to consider not just each building’s financial value, but its social value too.

“Before, it was just a disposals list with a property team visiting the sites, but now there’s now a community team also visiting and making sure they’re listening to the users and stakeholders,” she said, with Cllr Howard also visiting many of them personally.

Council still faces rising budget gap

The purpose of selling assets, though, is to save the council money, at a time when it’s facing a rising budget gap.

The independent improvement panel which currently oversees its finances is pushing it towards assets sales and said in a recent report that this has only just started to gather the momentum it needs.

“We’ve got to listen to people, but the way I look at it, it’s in the public interest that we look after the council’s affairs as well,” Labour’s deputy leader Cllr Amjad Iqbal (Labour, Central) said of the review. He added that he agrees that each building should be looked at on a “case-by-case basis”, but says there’s a delicate financial balance to be struck.

Buildings could be combined or sold to community groups

Both Cllr Hogg and Cllr Howard believe this can be reached through a more cautious approach.

Some community buildings may no longer be fit for purpose, Cllr Hogg said, while others could be given a new function or combined with others.

In some cases, community groups may wish to purchase the asset, he added, creating capital for the council and allowing them to bid for grants that it may have been difficult for them to secure while on short-term tenancies.

Cllr Howard, similarly, said that “people will hopefully see in time that some good will come from the review” as money from failing assets could be redeployed to upgrade others.

But, aside from the money the council needs to find in order to balance its budget in future years, it would also have to find several millions of pounds for repairs if it wants to get all of its stock up to scratch, previous leader Cllr Fitzgerald said.

“We're encouraging community groups to take them over, but where they're not fit for purpose or they cannot be salvaged, they'll have to go for sale or redeveloped,” he said. “And what's the point of keeping something that nobody uses?”

He added that the council’s new administration could stop the review entirely if they wanted, but that it’s clearly necessary for its financial health.

The review is next due to be discussed at a public meeting by councillors in January.

No decisions about individual assets have yet been made.