Community ownership plan for former Wolverhampton health centre
A vacant former health centre in one of Wolverhampton’s most deprived areas is being offered to community groups and organisations after being declared surplus to council requirements.
Blakenhall Community Resource Centre in Haggar Street, which previously provided day care and support for people with dementia and mental health needs, closed in 2020 following a series of repeated vandal attacks, with services being transferred to Action for Independence (A4i), West Park.
Council bosses are now set to approve a Community Asset Transfer (CAT) of the premises, with Voluntary and Community Organisations (VCOs) invited to submit applications for the use and management of the centre.
In a report to the council’s cabinet resources panel, deputy director of assets Julia Nock said: “CATs are essentially the transfer of public land to a community organisation – such as a development trust, a community interest company or a social enterprise – for less than market value, to achieve a local social, economic or environmental benefit.
“Blakenhall Community Resource Centre is a two-storey, detached property with an associated car park. It is currently vacant and managed as a void property by the council’s city assets team. A CAT of the centre would ensure the building is bought back into use for the benefit of Blakenhall residents.
“The CAT strategy aims to achieve a fair and transparent process for asset transfer between the council and local community groups. It helps communities to measure their state of preparedness in taking on the responsibility of managing an asset.
“There has been a number of expressions of interest for the site from different community organisations, but CAT will only be awarded provided the applicant can demonstrate a sustainable business case that will bring excellent benefits to the local economy. Putting the centre to productive use will help reduce crime, anti-social behaviour, potential health hazards and fly-tipping, which are all present given the current void nature of the site,” she added.
“It will enable the successful occupier to explore securing grant funding and corporate sponsorship in order to deliver to their community. A long lease is usually required with a minimum term of 35 years.”
Blakenhall councillor Paul Birch said: “We are backing the Elias Mattu Foundation food bank to take over the Blakenhall centre. This was going to happen in 2020, but when the Covid epidemic struck it was necessary for the local authority to loan the building to Deloitte, the accountants running the government’s testing centres.
“Now that the testing has come to a close, it’s necessary to change the use of the building and it makes most sense for this to go to the Elias Mattu Foundation. The Foundation have been feeding families over the past two and-a-half years and deliver a range of other services in the community.
“As a trustee of the foundation, I can vouch for the fact that we feed 450 families a week. Manj Sidhu and councillor Asha Mattu are the managing trustees and have made a firm commitment to intervening in family support. They have undertaken food deliveries to many vulnerable people since the pandemic struck, and today with the cost of living issues that have hit residents, the foundation is one of the few organisations they can turn to,” he added.
The Elias Mattu Foundation was set up in memory of much-loved former Wolverhampton mayor and city councillor Elias Mattu, who served the city for 18 years before his death in 2018. Cabinet bosses are due to approve the CAT on Wednesday.
