Crewe & Nantwich MP Kieran Mullan has slammed Cheshire East Council and its new Shavington councillor for failing to save the former youth club venue in the village.
The authority looks set to sell off the building on Main Road despite a two-year campaign to save the facility.
Dr Mullan criticised the move and hit out at newly elected Shavington Labour councillor Linda Buchanan who he says has not delivered on a pledge to save the building for community use.
Many villagers backed the campaign to saved the building for community use with hundreds completing a survey.
But the MP has accused the council of failing to maintain the building or listen to ideas for how to fund its repair.
He says it allowed the roof to get into disrepair, and that when developers confirmed it would be possible to sell off the schoolhouse as a private home to fund repairs to the roof, Cheshire East refused to consider this.
Dr Mullan said: “It is extremely disappointing that the Shavington Youth Club Building is being sold off.
“This represents a wasted opportunity to do something worthwhile with the site that is valued by the community – such as continuing as a youth club or allowing other groups to use it.
“This is a building at the heart of the village that holds so many memories for local people, both when it was a school and a youth club.
“There was a solution for funding the roof repairs but the council refused to consider it.
“Residents didn’t want to pay for it through the Parish Council because quite clearly they already pay Cheshire East a lot of tax and they expect at least some of it to be spent on local facilities for them.
“The newly elected Labour Councilor for Shavington pledged to save the building from being sold off and they haven’t delivered.”
Cllr Buchanan hit back and said the council was forced to sell due to “chronic underfunding” from the Tory Government.
She said: “Constituency MP, Dr Kieran Mullan, knows perfectly well the reason why 140 Main Road, formerly Shavington Youth Club, has been put up for sale.
“Cheshire East Council is struggling financially due to 13 years of austerity and chronic underfunding by this Conservative Government.
“It would be helpful if Dr Mullan would focus his campaign on securing more funding for Cheshire East Council, rather than switching the blame for a building’s dilapidation onto the Labour-led Cheshire East Council.
“I pledged in my campaign to protect the rich heritage of Shavington and fight to protect 140 Main Road from demolition.
“I can assure the residents of Shavington that I continue to fight to save 140 Main Road.
“We are all aware that Cheshire East cannot, in the current cost of living crisis, spend huge amounts of taxpayers’ money on restoring a building that has suffered from decades of neglect.
“However, I do believe that Cheshire East has a responsibility to preserve 140 Main Road. Historic buildings help to keep communities like Shavington beautiful, vibrant and give residents a stake in their surroundings.
“A community’s historic sites foster an individual’s sense of belonging and community pride, and Cheshire East needs to recognise this and protect the building from any threat of demolition.”
Cllr Mark Goldsmith, chair of the council’s economy and growth committee, said: “The council has marketed the property as a community asset, but this exercise did not result in any party wishing to take over the building on this basis.
“We have worked with the parish council to try to arrive at a solution that would retain the building within the community, potentially through a community asset transfer, but this has not progressed any further.
“Therefore, with no future purpose for the property, the council is left with no alternative but to market it as a surplus asset.
“The council does not have a use for the building and the community does not want to take it on either.
“Therefore, we cannot hold onto surplus assets indefinitely, so reluctantly must dispose of this building.”
Recent Comments