Purpose

This report sets out the steps
taken to secure the future of four former library buildings, as
community bases delivering preventative services in their local
area. A scoring panel consisting of officers from the Communities
Team, Libraries Team, and Assets Team reviewed the 29 applications
received for the former library buildings, allowing for the
recommendations being proposed in this paper.  A summary of the shortlisted applications and
proposals can be found in the final section of this
report.
 
The summary of bidders’
site benefits can be found in the final section of this
report.
           
The key summary of benefits include:

New uses will enable
access by all members of the community to the site;
Proposals will create
a new service or activity in the local community;
Proposal will have
wider community benefits for residents;
Proposal will create
opportunities for local organisations to work together;
Proposal will bring
additional financial investment into the area;
The length of the
leases will be set to allow funding bids to be made to bodies; such
as the Arts Council, National Lottery, trusts and charitable
organisations.

 
The potential use of these
sites by the community also supports the new Target Operating Model
(TOM) that the Council will be implementing with a wider range of
Council services being delivered in the community working
collaboratively with the local Voluntary, Community and Faith
Sector (VCFS).
 

Content

For the reasons set out in the
report, and confidential Part B report, the Executive Mayor
AGREED to:
 

Note that the scoring
panel having conducted detailed analysis of proposals submitted by
a range of organisations, including holding interviews, with
particular focus on financial viability

 

Approve, in principle
and subject to finalising terms, the award of leases to former
Library buildings, as follows:

o  
Broad Green: Asian
Resource Centre Croydon, with a
recommendation that they try to accommodate Writerz & Scribez
in their proposals.
o  
Bradmore Green: Bluebells Pre School
o  
Sanderstead: The
Story Sanctuary
o  
Shirley: Play
Place
 

Approve the award of
licences to these organisations so that they may occupy the
buildings whilst the Leases are prepared for each tenant for each
site, for a maximum of 6 months whilst leases are prepared, from
June 2025.

 

Delegate authority to
the Corporate Directorate of Resources and Section 151 Officer to
finalise the terms of the leases and enter into the leases for the
preferred organisation, to extend the licences outlined above if
the leases take longer to arrange, or second place organisation
should circumstance change, and the awarding of the transition
grants outlined in section 5.3 of the report.