Talks to begin over council asset transfer and future use of Halifax's Queen's Road Neighbourhood Centre

Calderdale Council cannot justify spending money to remedy safety issues and bring Queen’s Road Neighbourhood Centre up to scratch, but Halifax Opportunities Trust (HOT) might be able to, senior councillors heard.

The council’s Cabinet heard the trust has repurposed other buildings successfully in the town, for example the Elsie Whiteley Innovation Centre at Hopwood Lane, Halifax.

Following HOT’s expression of interest, Cabinet agreed to explore over the next three months the possibility of a full community asset transfer of the premises from council to the organisation.

Coun Silvia Dacre, Cabinet member for Resources, said the council’s biggest expense after people is buildings, and given the financial pressures the council along with others was suffering, it had to keep its estate under review.

Youth services, which had since been reshaped, were the main user when Covid struck and the pandemic meant others had to stop using the centre too, so there was now no main user to run the site.

Although some urgent safety work had been undertaken, much more was needed – latest estimates were it would cost around £1.6 million to stop the listed building deteriorating, with revenue costs each year of around £78,000.

“We as a council cannot justify spending that money when we have no primary user and we would need to spend more if we were to try and refurbish,” she said.

Coun Dacre (Lab, Todmorden) told Cabinet HOT were well-established with a strong track record of running large buildings.

“They already work well with us, they have acknowledged the need to invest in the site and they have the ability – and, we think, the capacity – to apply for funds that we can’t access,” she said.

Coun Jenny Lynn (Lab, Park) said the building was an important one – where community teams were based and she was pleased to see HOT referenced they could be based there.

Cabinet also agreed to put Park ward’s Neighbourhood Plan – which could be Calderdale’s second after Sowerby – out to a residents’ referendum on its proposals.