Peterborough council 'regrets' communication on building sales

Deputy leader John Howard spoke of the council's "regret" over its communication to residents

A deputy council leader said the way some residents found out about building sales was "regrettable".

Peterborough City Council (PCC) has made the decision to sell some of its buildings to save money and help balance its budget.

Some users said they only found out about the plans via social media.

Deputy leader John Howard said his party Peterborough First had "picked up the battle" after coming into power "late into this process".

Peterborough First runs the council as a minority after overthrowing the former Conservative leadership.

The library and food bank in Thorney would need to be relocated before any sale is finalised

Mr Howard, a cabinet member for corporate governance and finance, told the BBC that coming into political administration during November meant coming "quite late into this process".

He said: "Since we have come in, we have really tried to open it up and make sure that these user groups are engaged.

"The first thing we did was get the community and property teams visiting every single centre that looked like it was under review."

Erin Tierney, 35, who founded the Thorney, Eye and Surrounding Area Food Bank in 2020, said she found out through social media that PCC wanted to sell the building.

She said: "I was not told personally."

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During a cabinet meeting on Monday, the council said the library and food bank, which runs inside Thorney community centre, would need to be relocated before a sale is finalised.

Mr Howard said he agreed the way some groups discovered plans to sell was "regrettable", but the council had tried to "turn it around".

He said: "To give a good example of that, we're looking at taking on a 'grant finder'.

Peterborough City Council shared a list of buildings it could sell or change

"This would help a lot of these community groups to make sure they have access to as much funding as is available to them.

"That is something we didn't have before and it is a good example of some good coming from the review."

The council believed the sale of assets would raise about £3.9m.