Council agrees plan for future of town halls
Published 24 November 2010
Southwark Council has agreed to lease or sell its three town halls in a bid to protect crucial capital projects and vital frontline services from the impact of reductions in the authority's funding.
At a cabinet meeting last night the administration agreed to put Walworth Town Hall, Southwark Town Hall and Bermondsey Town Hall on the market.
The decision is part of wider strategy to ensure that not only should all council staff have a fit-for-purpose working environment, but to ensure that the council has an affordable, flexible and accessible presence in all parts of the borough that meets the needs of residents.
The cabinet stipulated certain conditions to ensure that the important functions previously provided by the town halls continue:
Walworth Town Hall, Walworth Road
- The council is seeking a deal which will ensure that it will still be used by the community and that the Cuming Museum, One Stop Shop and Newington Library will remain.
Bermondsey Town Hall, Spa Road
Southwark Town Hall, Peckham Road
- New council offices to be created in the centre of the borough for staff relocated from town halls and other not fit for purpose buildings.
- Retaining the option of access to the chamber in Southwark Town Hall as part of any deal.
- Seek new community facilities in Camberwell, possibly as part of a Camberwell Pavillion.
- These facilities could include a new community space, library, cafe and access to council services.
The move comes as the council prepares for the government's announcement in December on exactly how funding it will receive.
At a cabinet meeting in November cabinet member for resources Richard Livingstone said that if the council receives the national average reduction for local government, then it will have to save £80m over the next four years. But with the government yet to confirm exactly how it will allocate council funding – the picture could be much worse for Southwark.
Speaking after the cabinet, Councillor Livingstone said: "The council faces serious financial challenges over the next four years both in terms of running the services that residents need and delivering the projects that are vital to the future of the borough.
"Bringing all three of the town hall buildings and the retained estate up to standard, together with Elephant and Castle acquisition costs, would cost in the region of £24.5m.
"This would prevent the council spending capital on much-needed work elsewhere in the borough, such as improving our leisure centres or finding a solution to the lack of burial space in the borough.
"At the same time it also costs almost £2million a year to run the buildings. They are old and inefficient.
"I know not everyone will welcome the plans – but I want to make it clear that we are not simply abandoning the buildings to developers. We have put in place plans to ensure that a role in the community for both Southwark town hall and Walworth town hall remains.
"We recognise that a civic presence and strong civic identity for the borough is important. But, in reality, the town halls have very limited capacity to achieve this, especially with respect to public access to democratic functions which is acknowledged as poor."
