Race against time for community bidders for college and theatre site
A firm deadline has now been given to community groups interested in taking over the Melton Mowbray college and theatre site after it was this week listed as an ‘asset of community value’ (ACV) by the borough council.
Potential bidders have been told that they must submit a formal written request to the council by March 29 following the announcement yesterday (Thursday) that the site was being put up for sale for £3.5M by owners, Loughborough College Group.
The council has received official notification from the college group of its intention to sell the site, which triggers a statutory six-week interim moratorium period starting from Monday February 16.
During this moratorium, the college group can market the asset for sale but it cannot sell the site to any party other than a community interest group.
If a viable written request is made by a community group during this six-week period, the full six-month moratorium will then apply so interested parties have sufficient time to get together a business case and secure funding for a potential bid. This period will end on August 15.
In the event that no community interest group makes a formal expression of interest by the March 29 deadline, Loughborough College Group can then sell the site on the open market.
The application for the ACV was made in October by Amy Beale on behalf of The Melton Mowbray Theatre Company, when she was chair of the committee.
The borough council has now written to Amy to flag up the deadline dates for making written submissions of interest, as detailed above.
On why she pursued the ACV listing, Amy told the Melton Times: “The main motivation was the lack of engagement with the community.
"Whilst the college held a public consultation meeting last year that was very much focussed on finding a solution for teaching provision.
"It was not about finding a solution to save the site or the theatre for the community.
"There was another meeting last year organised by members of the community to explore potential options, such as forming a CIC to fundraise for the theatre.”
On having the ACV in place now, she added: “I really hope this sends a strong message to the college to explore these options more over the next six months, and I hope the community can pull together to potentially find a way to purchase the site.”
We reported yesterday that FHP Property Consultants had launched a marketing campaign for the Asfordby Road site on behalf of the college group.
FHP say they expect interest in it for a variety of uses, including as a company’s HQ, care home, community venue, retail or fitness centre, among others.
It says there is also likely to be interest from developers looking to demolish the buildings and redevelop the land.
They hope a buyer is secured by this summer with completion early next year.
Reacting to the ACV being made, a Loughborough College Group spokesperson said: “We recognise that the site is valued locally, particularly for its role in supporting community activities rather than for educational purposes.
"This is why we carried out a consultation about the future of the site.”
The college group say it continues to welcome all bids for the site, including from community groups.