Community Asset Transfer call for empty Bolton buildings

This comes after Bolton Council announced that they will be giving people around the borough the chance to take over buildings like these through the Community Asset Transfer scheme.

This will start with a pilot in which the Darren Deady Foundation armed forces charity take over a council owned building on Washacre in Westhoughton that has been empty for several years.

Bolton Council cabinet member for property Cllr Sue Haworth said: “As a council, we want to make sure our assets are being put to the best possible use in order to benefit residents across the borough.

“We recognise that in some cases, community groups are better placed than we are to manage these assets.

Rock Hall is another building listed for community asset transfer (Image: Newsquest)

“The CAT process brings underused buildings back into community use, reduces council maintenance costs, and gives Bolton’s many outstanding voluntary community sector organisations the chance to do even more for local people.”

The Darren Deady Foundation supports former soldiers and their families by offering support on issues like access to work, benefits and housing. 

Plans were to transfer the building at Washacre to the foundation were approved by Cllr Haworth at a meeting back in October last year.

The organisation is now finalising a detailed schedule of works for the building on Washacre, and the lease is due to be concluded by Bolton Council soon.

Town hall officials say that other similar proposed transfers are also being listed, including for the Grade II listed Rock Hall in Moses Gate Country Park.

The hall was listed for transfer in September last year and came after a successful £4M bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund to renovate the historic hall by Banana Enterprise.

But the council now hopes for more buildings that have been lying empty to be repurposed in this way. 

Schemes like these involve transferring buildings, or land, from the council to community organisations, often with a lease granted at less than the market value.

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As well as saving the council money, it also aims to strengthen its ties to voluntary and charitable organisations.

The authority says transfers are subject to assessments and are decided following consultation with ward councillors and that organisations must first demonstrate “community value”.

This means they must be able to show evidence that their use of the asset will further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community.

Typical examples include groups with a cultural, recreational or sporting interest.