Councillors are set to agree upon a new way of dealing with council-owned community buildings. The new Community Asset Policy will set out how Nottingham City Council plans to manage its portfolio of community centres and other buildings that are occupied by community and voluntary organisations.
It is hoped the policy will standardise a fair and consistent approach being taken by the Council, as it is the first formal policy the council has had which covers all buildings. This new approach will allow particular buildings to be transferred to other organisations from the council, such as community and voluntary groups, which would then become responsible for the building's maintenance and repairs.
The criteria for eligibility and what an organisation would need to demonstrate to be considered will be set out within the policy. Once agreements are reached between the council and an organisation, the building would then be transferred at less than market value, and the lease would be reviewed at least every five years.
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The council will no longer consider rental for free, but will accept a level of subsidy depending on quantifiable community benefits of the transfer, the value of the asset and the organisation’s ability to pay a full market rent. This will also allow the council to support the voluntary sector, which is usually best placed to host community facilities and respond to the needs and opportunities of local communities.
City Council Leader, Councillor David Mellen, said: “The arrangements we have in place for managing our portfolio of community assets is something we are looking at as part of our ongoing transformation programme, which aims to bring financial efficiencies and improve the way the council operates.
“The new Community Asset policy sets out proposals for how we do this better and the options for transferring assets to community-based organisations where appropriate, with the aim of supporting the voluntary sector while delivering best value for local taxpayers.”
However before asset transfer is considered as an option, the council will be discussing its financial and strategic objectives to see if they could better achieve their goals through the sale of the buildings to provide income for council building projects or services.
A consultation on the proposed new approach revealed general support from community partners, such as NCVS and the Renewal Trust. The policy is due to be discussed at a meeting of the council’s Executive Board on Tuesday, February 21.
It comes after Nottingham City Council said it would consider reducing a planned rent increase for a Sherwood community centre after originally proposing to hike it by tens of thousands. It comes after the council told those running the centre the rent would have to go up, ending the previous £10-a-year peppercorn rent to the building owner.
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