Issue - meetings

The Director of Customer & Communities and the Corporate Director for Children & Education to present a report which sets out a proposal from the University of York to support education and community outcomes in the Westfield area, and asks Members to support the proposal and to consider options for a partnership contribution from the council; in particular, the lease of Community Sanderson House to the university.

Resolved:  (i)      That the partnership with the University of York to develop the ‘Westfield Centre’ be supported.

                  (ii)     That Option A be approved and the University of York be granted a five-year lease of Sanderson Community House at a peppercorn rent, subject to public consultation with Westfield residents on the proposed lease.

                  (iii)     That authority be delegated to the Director of Customer & Communities, in consultation with the Executive Member for Housing, Planning & Safer Communities, to negotiate and enter into all legal agreements necessary to implement the lease, following the outcome of the Westfield resident consultation.

Reason:     In order to support education and community outcomes in the Westfield area.

The Corporate Director for Children & Education, the Director of Customer & Communities and the Strategic Services Manager presented a report which set out a proposal from the University of York (UoY) to support education and community outcomes in the Westfield area, and asked Members to support the proposal and to consider options for a partnership contribution from the council by leasing Sanderson Community House (SCH) to UoY for development of the ‘Westfield Centre’.  The Head of Access and Outreach at UoY was in attendance and provided further details on the project.  She noted that the current name for the centre was temporary and a name would be chosen by the community. 

The report outlined the background to the proposal, which had evolved from conversations between Education leads and local headteachers following UoY’s involvement in a partnership to establish a community learning centre in a deprived area of Hull.  UoY were seeking to establish a similar centre in Westfield, via a £2.5m investment through philanthropic donations.  Four options were available, as detailed in paragraphs 27-34 of the report and summarised below:

·      Option A – support the proposal and lease SCH to UoY at a peppercorn rent. This was the recommended option.

·      Option B -  lease SCH to UoY at a commercial rent.  This would be likely to reduce investment in the project.

·      Option C – reject the proposal and continue the operation of SCH as a community centre. This would leave teams struggling to raise the current usage above 5%.

·      Option D -  close the community centre and convert it into 3 terraced houses.  This was essentially the fallback position should Options A and B fall through.

Members welcomed the report and the plans to consult with residents ‘face to face’, commenting that the area was defined by its people and not by deprivation.  In supporting the recommendations, the Executive Member for Children, Young People & Education thanked all those involved in the project, which he said could be transformative for families.  Having noted the comments made on this item under Public Participation, it was

Resolved:  (i)      That the partnership with the University of York to develop the ‘Westfield Centre’ be supported.

                  (ii)     That Option A be approved and the University of York be granted a five-year lease of Sanderson Community House at a peppercorn rent, subject to public consultation with Westfield residents on the proposed lease.

                  (iii)     That authority be delegated to the Director of Customer & Communities, in consultation with the Executive Member for Housing, Planning & Safer Communities, to negotiate and enter into all legal agreements necessary to implement the lease, following the outcome of the Westfield resident consultation.

Reason:     In order to support education and community outcomes in the Westfield area.