WIRRAL is to put one of its most unusual assets on the property market under council plans to sell off surplus offices.
The Old Courthouse, in Wallasey, was acquired by the local authority in 1972 from Cheshire Police Authority and became a Wirral Council asset following local government re-organisation.
The building – which still has part of its old court rooms and cells – has more recently been occupied by the Community Safety Team.
But, under preparations by the council to reduce its office accommodation to save more than a million pounds a year, the historic courthouse is set to be put up for sale.
The review is part of one of the largest reviews of local authority assets ever carried out by a council, and follows on from Wirral’s Strategic Asset Review (SAR), which saw the authority plan to close 11 libraries – later withdrawn – and transfer dozens of other assets to the community. Birkenhead Town Hall and Pacific Road Arts Centre were also put on the market.
The sell-off is part of the council’s plan to “develop the authority’s approach to agile working” and will see greater use of information technology.
The SAR was based on council figures showing an extensive backlog of repairs to its buildings – which were largely inherited in 1974 from five district councils which previously governed Wirral.
A report to the council’s excellence overview and scrutiny committee said staff at Esher House, Oakenholt, in Moreton, and the Old Courthouse, in Wallasey, were in the process of being relocated. Sale of another council property, Bridge Court, in West Kirby, to Wirral Partnership Homes has been agreed, and a short lease extension to the Dock Road Depot, in Wallasey, has been agreed with the tenant.
Last year, it was revealed that no council building was exempt from the review, when cabinet member Bob Moon said: “The proposals around the libraries, Birkenhead Town Hall and Pacific Road show nothing is sacrosanct.”
Last night, a spokeswoman for the local authority said: “The council is reviewing the future uses of all of its buildings. One strand of this work is examining existing office accommodation, which aims to save in excess of £1m per year in costs.”
