Council in £4m bid to reopen centre closed by Raac

Shropshire Council hopes to identify £4m of capital funding to help bring Whitchurch Civic Centre back into use

A council has proposed spending up to £4m to reopen a community centre which was closed after the discovery of potentially dangerous concrete.

Whitchurch Civic Centre has been closed since September 2023, after specialist engineers found reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) throughout the building.

Shropshire Council, which owns the site, said the money would be spent installing a new roof and carrying out other repairs, although it hoped more money could be found from other sources to have the centre rebuilt.

Mayor of Whitchurch Andy Hall said he hoped further investment could be found to pay for a rebuild, although he was not aware of any external funding in the pipeline.

'Ageing building'

Council leaders will be asked at a cabinet meeting on 12 February to approve the £4m funding and to also agree to an urgent "needs analysis" so the building can be reconfigured to meet the needs of the community.

Following a consultation held last year, a working group made up of local councillors and officers was set up to consider the building's future.

It  carried out a feasibility study into the two most popular options – to either repair or replace the centre.

This work has also included looking at how the centre can be economically and efficiently run and managed in the future by Whitchurch Town Council.

Andy Hall is hoping external funding can be found so the civic centre can be rebuilt

Mr Hall said: "At the moment we can't identify any money from central government or elsewhere.

"But the civic centre is an ageing building, built on Victorian foundations, and some people will ask why Shropshire Council would spend £4m on a roof when you could rebuild it for £6m to £7m."

The sports and market hall have remained open and are not impacted by Raac.

Dean Carroll, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for housing and assets, said: "We know the importance of the civic centre to Whitchurch and to people who live in and around the town.

"We're proposing to identify £4m of capital funding to help bring the centre back into use – whether this means a new roof or a complete rebuild will then depend on whether the working group and external partners can secure the additional government or other external funding that a rebuild would require."