By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Plans to demolish two under-used community centres in favour of new affordable housing were labelled as a ‘no-brainer’ by councillors.
Ashfield District Council says the two buildings – in separate parts of Sutton – have remained largely unused and ‘unsustainable’ since the pandemic.
It has now unanimously backed its own plans to demolish them so four social homes can be added to its council housing.
The authority says demand has declined for the two sites, at Brierley House, in Brierley Road on Sutton’s Carsic estate, and Mill House in Mill Lane, Huthwaite.
Council figures show Brierley House had about 568 hours of usage in the 2019/20 financial year, meaning it was used for about a quarter of the time.
However, last year it was used for just five hours – or 0.2 per cent of the time it was available for bookings.
The authority adds Mill House has faced a “similar decline” since 2019/20 but had zero bookings or usage in 2022/23.
And neither centre generated any income for the authority despite incurring day-to-day running costs and repairs.
These costs, the council says, exceeded £8,000 for each centre last year.
This doesn’t include long-term improvements to ensure each centre remains fit for purpose.
These costs are estimated at £36,000 for Mill House and £37,000 for Brierley House over the next five years, with longer-term costs “significantly higher”.
Now the authority’s cabinet has unanimously supported plans to demolish both centres so new affordable homes can be created in their place.
A meeting on July 31 heard both sites are “not sustainable” with limited demand and could become key locations for new housing.
Brierley House has been earmarked for two two-bedroom bungalows, with two semi-detached homes planned at Mill House.
In total, the cost of building the new homes is expected to be £743,000, with Homes England funding to be requested to cover some costs.
Speaking in the meeting, Cllr Tom Hollis (Ash Ind), cabinet member for strategic housing, said: “Frankly, this has no impact upon residents.
“We have a clear ambition to build social homes across the district and to find affordable and good locations for them.
“Of the 5,824 hours these rooms could have been used and rented for, we had zero regular users.
“Clearly these spaces could be better used and to have social homes is extremely important.
“If you look at other venues – there’s the All Saint’s Centre in Huthwaite which is 50 yards down the street and is publicly available with regular hours.
“It’s the same in Carsic with multiple venues people can use within a very close distance both in Sutton town centre and within the estate itself.”
The proposal was unanimously backed by the cabinet, meaning the council will now draw up detailed plans for the new housing.
These must be granted planning permission before any construction work – including demolition – can get underway.
But Cllr John Wilmott (Ash Ind), cabinet member for governance, backed the plans and said: “This is a no-brainer.
“I agree entirely that, if the centres are not being used for their intended purpose, they should be used for a useful purpose.
“What’s better than council and affordable homes? So many people are on our waiting list – an incredible amount of people.”
The decision is part of a wider plan launched by the Ashfield Independent administration last month to build more than 200 new social homes between now and 2027.
This followed the administration meeting its pledge to build 100 social properties in the previous four-year council term to May 2023.
