Unitary wants town council to buy historic pavilion for large sum or will consider selling it
Plans to redevelop the Swanspool Pavililon and gardens in Wellingborough could fall down unless the town council pays the unitary a significant sum
By Sarah Ward
North Northamptonshire Council has told a town council it needs to pay tens of thousands of pounds for an asset it acquired for free when the former borough council ended.
Wellingborough Town Council has been planning for more than a year to take on Swanspool Pavilion and Gardens and had ambitions of giving it a multi million pound makeover with a new cafe and adventure golf course.
The town council had been in talks with the unitary to hand over the building for £1, but a report to be considered by the town council tomorrow, says that the unitary now wants £25,000 from the town council. The town council, which is led by Graham Lawman, who is also a member of the unitary cabinet, says there is also a backlog of repairs which could come to just under £80,000. The authority does not have the money in its reserves to pay the £25,000 sum or the additional repairs.
The town council says in a report to be considered by councillors, that it has been told by the unitary authority that if it cannot move ahead with the transfer it may consider selling it.
It will decide at tomorrow’s meeting whether to continue talks with the unitary to try and get it to hand over the asset for a nominal sum, or decide to scrap the scheme.
The town council had been trying to get grants to pay for the redevelopment, but says with the new Labour government in post, these former funding pots may no longer be available.
The Swanspool Gardens were originally gifted to the town in 1919 for the enjoyment of the people of Wellingborough. In 1929 the then Wellingborough Urban District Council built the Pavilion within the grounds of Swanspool Gardens to provide an asset for community use for the town.
When the borough council ended in 2021, the asset became the property of NNC, which is currently run by a Conservative administration led by Cllr Jason Smithers. The pavilions are closed the majority of the time.
Wellingborough town councillor Marion Turner-Hawes says the situation has made her furious.
She said:
“The money required by NNC is funding WTC has not budgeted for, instead WTC staff have worked hard over the past 18 months to find external funds to upgrade the building and the park, developing an exciting business plan that would see the transformation of this beautiful community asset, bringing it back in to appropriate service for our community. The Town Council applied to the former Government’s Community Ownership Fund for nearly £1 million pounds to do this work. Unfortunately, a decision on this grant has been delayed because of the change of Government and this fund may no longer be available, at least for some time.
“As a town councillor and a local resident I feel furious about NNCs approach, particularly given they seem to have little regard for any of this Town’s community buildings which they have systematically run down since taking ownership and seem very keen to close or sell as soon as possible. Assets which by spirit if not law, are not theirs to pass on and we’re never BCW’s to transfer in the first place, many were owned by us.
“I believe many residents will be equally concerned, particularly when you understand that this action by NNC could well result in WTC Councillors deciding on Wednesday that this is such a bad deal being offered by NNC, that they can’t in all good conscience go ahead with the transfer.
“And without WTC taking over, Swanspool Pavilion is likely to remain closed, and the gardens, including the tennis courts and bowling greens, will continue to fall in to disrepair, if NNCs track record in our town continues.”
A number of the town councillors are also Conservative unitary councillors, including Cllr Matt Binley, executive member for highways and assets, who has responsibility for asset disposal.
Cllr Matt Binley told NN Journal:
“The proposed transfer terms which Wellingborough Town Council will be discussing at their next meeting are in line with the Council's community asset transfer policy and reflect the principles applied to transfers elsewhere in North Northamptonshire.
“We believe the town council's reference to a transfer of £1 relates to initial discussion documents which did not reflect agreed terms. The proposed transfer reflects the condition of the building and satisfies the council’s best value duties.
“We await the outcome of the town council's meeting and remain open to discussing the transfer of the property.”
The project has been causing issues for some months. Minutes of earlier meetings show the authority has refused to give the town council the market value of the asset and a meeting had to be called to a halt due to disruption when the matter was being discussed.
Former town mayor Val Anslow, who is also a Labour unitary councilllor and town councillor, said she thinks the authority is trying to prove a point.
She said the asset has been neglected and little used since it was taken over by NNC and belongs to the town.
She said:
“Let’s face it, £25,000, what’s that going to make to the black hole in the untiary council’s budget? It is peanuts.
“Our clerk has spent so much time on grants and business plans because we thought it was in the bag. Now it seems we are back to square one.”
The meeting takes place tomorrow at 7pm at the Salem Hall building in Wellingborough town centre.
This is exactly the kind of issue which leads residents to believe there has been no change from the old, obstinate, difficult to work with .. CC days. So the local tax payer is being asked to pay the local tax payer for a building given to the local tax payer for community use and which will support community wellbeing, pride and the public realm. Surely the only question at that meeting should be - how do we make this happen as quickly and seemlessly as possible.
What this sorry little saga exposes (once again) is the fatuity of having town councillors who are also unitary councillors. Anyone who fondly imagines that having unitary councillors on the town council gives a direct line for the interests of the town to be brought to the attention of the unitary is gravely mistaken - the unitary councillors merely act as an axis for control of the town council by the unitary. I hope people remember this next May.