By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter
A charity in St Ann’s is looking to protect an old library building and the surrounding shopping parade from property developers as part of plans to turn the “neglected” area into a thriving community hub.
The Chayah Development Project, based in Robin Hood Chase, is an organisation working to support disadvantaged people in the area.
It has submitted an application to Nottingham City Council to nominate a number of shops and an old library building for additional protection as an asset of community value.
This means if the land is put up for sale, it is subject to more development restrictions and community groups are given the chance to bid.
Peter Millward, a volunteer who submitted the application, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service there is “a sense of unhappiness at the mis-development of Robin Hood Chase by the council”.
All properties on the parade are vacant except for three units at numbers 22, 26 and 28.
Mr Millward says he fears the council’s intention is to sell the land off to developers, and the Chayah Development Project is instead proposing to establish a community hub on the site.
The “first step” in the plan is getting the site protected, Mr Millward says.
“If you look at Robin Hood Chase, many years ago there used to be 20-plus shops,” he said.
“What happened is the council, as part of efforts to modernise the area, said it would do things to help the area.
“So far they have converted part of it into older people’s residential homes, but that is it.
“We think the council will want to sell it off to a property developer, so we have put in a case, quite a compelling case, and what we want to do is we want to develop it for residents.
“The services in that area currently are so poor. This site has been sitting there. We believe the black and BAME community has been given a raw deal over the years.
“We’ve had situations where children come and they do their homework on the pavements because they can access our WiFi at the Chayah Development Project hub.
“So it is a massive shame there is this big library that is not being utilised.
“We want to lead a project where we renovate it and get all these premises utilised and use the library as a place where people can gather.
“I believe if we demonstrate that it is an asset, the sensible approach from the council would be to negotiate with us and come up with doing something about the area.”
Deprivation in St Ann’s is much higher than the city’s average, with more than 20 per cent of the population living in poverty, figures from the council show.
St Ann’s is also among the top 10 per cent of most-deprived communities in the UK.
The Chayah Development Project supports residents with facilities such as a food bank, services to equip young men with life skills by addressing taboo subjects such as drug, gangs and the justice system, as well as providing a safe space and counselling for women and girls within Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities.
Mr Millward says he fears the site could end up being sold to a developer.
Instead the charity says it wants to establish a number of community services on the shopping parade, including a community laundrette to help low-income families with access to washing machines and a community café and restaurant.
The library building would then be used for community recreation and meeting purposes, with meetings and training rooms available for use.
It would also be opened for young people as a location where they can do homework and other recreational activities designed to keep them off the streets.
Hyacinth Francis-Watson, the project manager at Chayah, added: “We are after the full complex that is left.
“There are quite a lot of community groups in St Ann’s, which have nowhere to work from.
“So if we have got somewhere we can all get together, we would be firing on all cylinders.”
However a Nottingham City Council spokesperson says it could fail to become a “justifiable outlay of taxpayers’ money”.
The council said: “We have received an Asset of Community Value application for the shop parade at Robin Hood Chase, which is currently under consideration.
“Most of the units are either vacant or not operating, with those occupied being let on historically nominal leases. Chayah currently pays no rent.
“Even with significant investment, the shop units here are unlikely to attract businesses paying commercial rent, meaning it would not be a justifiable outlay of taxpayers’ money.
“We will await the outcome of the group’s application, however neither decision – granted or refused – will remove the need to get better value from this asset for both the council and local residents, nor prevent changes in the future to bring this about.”
