Council’s £2.7m hub plan for Priory Road headquarters shelved

A project to transform South Holland District Council’s headquarters into a community hub has not attracted enough interest from potential public sector partners to proceed.

The controversial proposal, which had a £2.7million budget earmarked and was to have been a major source of income, could have led to the police and Lincolnshire County Council’s Social Services in Spalding moving into the district council’s Priory Road building.
The Ministry of Justice was also sounded out over the possibility of video link facilities to courts, but was not interested at this stage.

As it is, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), which has already announced the closure this year of Jobcentre Plus in Westlode Street, is the only likely tenant in the near future.

An officer report to a full council meeting tonight (Wednesday) says: “Several significant potential occupiers had been identified; however it has not been possible to agree terms for a variety of reasons.”

Councillors were due to approve the recommendation of proceeding with a leasehold arrangement with the DWP and agreeing a £350,000 budget to make the necessary alterations to the ground floor.
The expected annual income is £42,000, meaning an eight-year period before a return on the investment starts to be realised.
The council is keen to reduce its overheads for the site and is mindful of central government financial support for local governments ending by 2020.

Joint deputy leader Coun Malcolm Chandler headed up a small team of elected members exploring the project. He refused to admit disappointment at the outcome, insisting the DWP proposal was a good one and other parties could still come on board in future.

He said: “We have spoken to Lincolnshire County Council and for reasons of their own they don’t want to come in with us at this stage.
“The police were an option too but any police presence would have improved the security risk and what with a requirement for a number of vehicles and 24-hour access it was a mutual decision not to proceed.”

 

He added: “At the end of the day the council offices are for the people of South Holland.
“We were always looking to make a return on our investment and whilst I’m not able to give any financial details, we have been able to come to a very successful result.”

Coun Chandler did not rule out the possibility of the private sector making use of the site in future but said it was not something which has been considered at this time.