Nottingham City Council's leader has said the disposal of several buildings owned by the authority is not a "reckless sale of the family silver". The council is aiming to have reviewed 550 of its assets by the end of this year as part of broader efforts to cut costs and reduce the authority's debt levels.
The reviews look at whether the council should keep ownership of a building or piece of land, or sell it to generate a one-off capital receipt. The decision has already been taken to sell off several council properties, including a building on King Street occupied by the Rosa's Thai restaurant and a property on Strelley Road occupied by a branch of GoLocalExtra.
The issue was raised at a full council meeting on Monday (March 6) when Councillor Kevin Clarke, the leader of the Nottingham Independents, asked: "Does the leader realise that these properties are not owned by the council, we are mere custodians of the assets and they should not be sold off every time the council seems to find itself in financial difficulties."
