Bristol City Council is selling off six buildings – including two family support centres – in the hope of raising £3million to help plug a huge budget shortfall. South Bristol Rehabilitation Centre, which the authority shut controversially last year and later apologised to staff for their “appalling” treatment, is also up for sale.
Mayor Marvin Rees’s cabinet agreed the properties, which will be assessed for suitability for housing prior to sale, were no longer needed, although council staff are based at four of them and will have to relocate, while the remaining two are home to other organisations. One of the buildings, at Capgrave Crescent in Brislington, where 24 employees work, is a “children’s therapeutic hub” and family contact centre for foster carers and kids in care, providing therapy rooms and a “life-skills kitchen” for youngsters.
A report to cabinet said: “Early discussion with Service lead would suggest a need to continue to provide this service.” A tweet by Mr Rees during the meeting, however, suggested that the freehold buildings were “disused offices” and “derelict” and did not mention their current use, including therapy for young people that the council is responsible for looking after.
The mayor’s budget, to be decided by full council on February 21, proposes £16.2million of cuts and savings in 2023/24 and £30.2million overall as the local authority faces a £20.3million annual budget gap, which is forecast to double in four years. The cabinet report proposing the sales, which members approved on Tuesday, January 24, said South Bristol Rehab Centre at Inns Court, Knowle West, had closed to reablement services but about 90 staff remained in ground-floor offices and would need another base.
It said the building could be used potentially for temporary housing. A Grade II-listed, four-storey property at 53 Queens Square will also be put on the open market.
It was let to Destination Bristol – now Visit West, part of the council’s culture service – for 10 years from 2005 and the “remaining occupiers can relocate”, the report said. Another family contact centre, in Rodbourne Road, Horfield, houses eight staff and its use would “need to be re-provided”, the report said.
A L-shaped office building called Tower House on an industrial estate in Days Road, St Philips, where 64 employees – mainly traffic wardens – are based, is on the list to go. The council is also selling the dilapidated former Horfield community centre in Wordsworth Road, currently used as a temporary construction yard for self-build homes by Ecomotive whose lease expires in May.
According to the report, the organisation has told the authority it wants to buy the property because, “we have a strong connection in Lockleaze and are working closely with Lockleaze Neighbourhood Trust with the Turner Garden site, as well as recruiting people from the local area into our build team”. Ecomotive said: “We would like to create the Wordsworth site into a community involved 'self-finish' project.”
It said it could either provide housing on the site or buy the building, depending on what the council wanted. But the report said: “Officers advise against disposal directly to Ecomotive and recommend a competitive sale on the open market in which the current occupier can participate.”
Deputy mayor Cllr Craig Cheney told the meeting: “The financial pressure on the council and the resulting need to deliver significant capital receipts and revenue savings from the portfolio means that work to identify assets no longer required for service delivery are prioritised and accelerated. Cabinet approved the open market disposal of five surplus assets in July 2022 and this report identifies a further six which are either vacant or underused.
“Prior to disposal on the open market there will be reviews to assess suitability for use by housing as temporary accommodation, housing development or for sale to registered providers. Any staff still in the buildings will be relocated to other suitable council accommodation.”
The report said the council would consult staff affected and trade unions at least one month before any moves needed to happen.
Read next:
Fears for second rehab centre as council confirms South Bristol closure
Bristol council could close rehab centre despite hospital pressures
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