Community group forced to abandon plans to takeover former library

A community group has been forced to ditch plans to take over the running of a landmark building.
Norman Bradbury at the former Atherton LibraryNorman Bradbury at the former Atherton Library
Norman Bradbury at the former Atherton Library

Atherton Community Trust has withdrawn its attempt to take control of the town’s former technical college and library on York Street.

It had been given until May 1 to produce a viable business plan for a community asset transfer (CAT) of the location, but has informed Wigan Council that will not be possible.

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The withdrawal brings to an end more than a year of attempts by the group, which was formed by a number of Atherton organisations coming together, to develop facilities for the town’s residents in the building.

The trust acknowledged that some of the uses it had hoped to put it to were not financially viable, while others were hindered by the design of the building. And the last-remaining option of a venue for ex-military personnel for Atherton and its surrounding areas was not enough on its own.

Trust chairman Norman Bradbury said: “We are all disappointed that we couldn’t put together a viable business plan for the community asset transfer. The ambition of the community to set up a community hub to include a Youth Zone, theatre, veterans’ hub and space for community groups to meet, lost support from members of the original steering group due to the design of the venue and lack of realistic funding for individual projects.

“The only viable project was for a veteran’s hub, but this alone could not raise the funds needed to progress with the CAT bid.

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“On behalf of the Atherton Community Trust, I’d like to thank the council and officers for all their help and advice on formulating a viable business plan for the CAT and look forward to working with them in the future.

“I must thank everybody for their support for the bid for the York Street building, I still hope that a way will be found to retain these valuable buildings for future generations to enjoy.”

The trust said it had hoped the CAT process could be put on hold until the coronavirus crisis has come to an end and asked for work to be done on the roof.

However, the council said it had hoped the building would be in new ownership by now and as it is empty no more money could be allocated to it. The building has been vacant since the library moved to Atherton Town Hall.

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Wigan Council last year expressed concern over the trust’s ability to foot the bill for its project which then stood at £400,000, but gave the group the go-ahead to produce a full business plan for the asset transfer in January.

A council spokesperson said: “We’ve been working with the Atherton Community Trust for 15 months, in which time we’ve granted four extensions for them to submit their business plan, whereas the usual period allowed for a community asset transfer is three months.

“We wanted to give the group enough time to bring forward a sustainable plan which would secure the building’s long-term future.

“We do want to thank the group for their hard work.

“The building needs significant investment to bring it back into viable use and it would be a difficult task for a group of any size to produce a business case in part due to the size, age and condition of the building.

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“We will now have to assess what our options are for the building, although our current priority remains tackling the Covid-19 pandemic.”

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