Northampton town centre units, cottages and playing field to be sold by council following asset review

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) agreed at a meeting on Monday December 22 that a total of four sites should be disposed of, after reviewing the assets in its estate. The local authority says the move will help to reduce maintenance and property running costs and secure useful outcomes for the community, either through income or direct transfers.

The sites in the latest round of disposals include two ground floor retail units at 20 and 20A Sheep Street, Northampton. Unit 20 is currently occupied by community radio station Inspiration FM, however the council says it is in active discussions with the tenant about their future occupancy of the property.

The report states that the tenant is in significant rent arrears and that the property has fallen into a state of disrepair. The retail unit at 20A has been vacant for several years and it is hoped the disposal will enable the properties to be brought back into beneficial use.

The council adds that the sale is likely to result in residential conversion, similar to the neighbouring property.

However, speaking at the cabinet meeting, Councillor Keith Holland-Delamere said he was “really concerned” to see the Sheep Street property on the asset disposal list and warned of the community outreach that could be lost.

He said: “I’ve mentioned before I have questions about how we approach tenants who are in the voluntary, community, social enterprise (VSCE) sector. Inspiration FM is one of those key organisations with particular communities in terms of their engagement with youth.

“They are well known as an important, vital community organisation within the area. I recognise the challenges for the VCSE sector, especially when we keep on cutting funding from our budgets.”

WNC is also seeking to dispose of land adjacent to an industrial unit at Site 11, St James Mill Road, that is currently let to an engineering and motorsport firm, Cosworth. The company has now chosen to use the option granted to it as part of the lease to acquire the freehold from WNC.

The report states that the sale of the unit “will generate a sizable capital receipt”, but also result in the loss of rent currently worth £240,000 per year. The disposal of the adjacent land would not achieve such a significant capital receipt, but would remove an ongoing maintenance liability for the authority.

The council has also agreed to sell 1 & 2 Fogg Cottages in Milton Malsor. They were previously used as temporary accommodation, but were deemed to be too remote to use and subsequently fell victim to vandalism, fly tipping and anti-social behaviour.

Lastly, a community disposal has been flagged for St Luke’s Centre and St Luke’s Playing Field in Duston to the parish council. This would be for a ‘nominal sum’ of £1, with WNC stating that the transfer would be justified by the community benefit from the local control and management of the site.

All asset transactions were approved by the WNC cabinet at a meeting on Monday December 22.