It is now known as the ‘Former Youth Centre’ and Wiltshire Council will – as part of their withdrawal of youth services – mothball the building after the May elections. This was raised at the Monday (February 20) meeting of the Town Council’s Property Committee – though no one asked why the mothballing was being left until after the elections.
The building had been on offer to Marlborough Town Council as part of Wiltshire Council’s programme of Community Asset Transfers (CATs) – passing on buildings Wiltshire Council no longer wants or which have become redundant due to the withdrawal of their services.
It is currently being used by the Marlborough Community Youth Group as well as some other groups.
So far so good. But the CAT programme has been put on ice until well after the May elections – probably until August.
Wiltshire Council has now sent an email to the Town Council offering the building to Marlborough on a seven year lease at a peppercorn rent.
The catch is that under this lease the Town Council would be responsible for all insurance and repairs. And it is clear that Wiltshire Council made a decision not to maintain the building to a proper standard.
Committee Chairman, Councillor Loosmore, made it plain that the Council did not want to take on a building that needs ‘massive maintenance’. So the Committee agreed to have a building survey done as soon as possible to get an expert view of the state the building was being left in.
Councillor Marian Hannaford-Dobson had wanted to be sure they were only voting on the building survey and not about taking on the lease.
When the building survey comes back to a meeting of the full council the debate will not just be about grouting.