Row over council lease plan for former school

Amber Valley Borough Council took ownership of the former grammar school in 2022

Plans to lease a refurbished grammar school to Derbyshire County Council for use as office space have been paused after councillors called for more scrutiny over the decision.

Amber Valley Borough Council (AVBC) took on the former Heanor Grammar School in 2022 after receiving £8.6m through the government's Future High Streets Fund.

But there has been anger from councillors and the mayor of the town after a decision was taken to hand over large swathes of the building to the county council.

The borough council said the community would still benefit from the new plans.

When AVBC originally agreed to acquire the grammar school, it said the building was to be "restored and repurposed as a shared use facility, including space for business, training and community uses".

While signed off by the county council's cabinet last week, the decision to go ahead with the plan in Amber Valley was made unilaterally by borough council leader Chris Emmas-Williams.

Decisions considered urgent by the leadership can be taken outside of the usual cabinet process under the authority's rules as an executive decision.

A record of the decision taken on 25 July says leasing it to the county council offers "immediate full occupation [of the building], a stable and predictable income stream, and a substantial reduction in operational and financial risk to the council".

It goes on to say that providing "meaningful benefit to the local community" has remained "a key priority".

Under the proposals, the main hall and an adjacent meeting room will be available for hire by community groups on one weekday, every evening and all day at weekends.

The council also says the car park will operate on a "split-use basis", ensuring some public access is still possible but not between 08:00 and 18:00 on weekdays.

The plans would see the county council lease the building from Amber Valley for a five-year period.

Space would be available for about 150 employees.

The listed building has undergone extensive refurbishment since closing in 2013.

However, a meeting of Amber Valley's Improvement and Scrutiny Committee will now take place on 12 August after the decision was subject to a call-in procedure by two councillors.

To call-in a decision means implementation is paused so that councillors can examine the reason it was taken and scrutinise whether the process aligns with council requirements.

Labour councillor Trevor Holmes and Derbyshire Community Independents councillor Ben Bellamy were behind the call-in application.

"A behind closed doors decision has been taken by one man to lease the whole building and limit community use to just evenings and weekends," Bellamy said.

"That doesn't sit right."

The mayor of Heanor and Loscoe Town Council Alan Abernethy said the decision was made in an "underhand" way and leasing it to the county council "goes against the Future High Street Fund".

"Most people in Heanor expected it to be community-based, that's what they were promised," he said.

"We're not going to stop Derbyshire County Council going into there, but the way it's been done and the fact we're getting so little use of it, it's going to affect Heanor. Personally I want to see more space offered to us. We've been let down."

An AVBC spokesperson said: "No agreement has been made at this stage.

"If agreed, a county council tenancy will ensure that additional jobs will be established within Heanor Town Centre, which will bring valuable footfall, new visitors, and increased support for local businesses."

Stephen Reed, Derbyshire County Council's cabinet member for business services, said moving to the building would save the county council £135,000 a year and give staff "a more modern working environment".

"We were looking for office accommodation in the area as the landlord for our offices at Mercian Close gave us notice," he said.

"As part of the proposals, there will be community use of the main hall and associated facilities so that the community of Heanor can benefit from the building.

"We're currently looking at how we can work with Amber Valley Borough Council so they can manage those arrangements."