Council sells centre used by mental health services

Terms of sale have been agreed with a “local independent school", the council says

A community centre that houses mental health services will be sold, a council has said.

Peterborough City Council (PCC) has announced its intention to sell 441 Lincoln Road, home to the Samaritans, a charity that supports isolated people, Alzheimer’s Society and NHS Memory Clinic.

Terms of sale have been agreed with a “well-supported local independent school", the council said.

John Howard, Peterborough City Council’s deputy leader, said he understood it was a “very emotive decision”, but the council had the current tenants’ “best interests at heart”.

Potential alternative sites have already been found for the Memory Clinic, run by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, and the Alzheimer’s Society, the council said.

The buyer has also told the council it may be willing to continue housing the services until they were relocated, a PCC report said.

The sale of the building will be signed off when the cabinet meets on 22 March, after which the Samaritans and the Memory Clinic will be served with a notice. They are allowed a year’s notice before relocation.

“All of those groups are with us and they’re supporting what we’re offering them going forward,” Mr Howard said.

The Lincoln Road property was part of a wider review of all of the council’s assets, which began in summer last year, to help the authority raise funds.