Closure of civic building ‘most unacceptable’ to Whitchurch residents

The authority launched a public consultation on the troubled Whitchurch Civic Centre earlier this year, which has been mostly closed to the public since 2023 when aerated concrete (RAAC) was discovered in the building.

The survey asked residents to rank options for the future of the centre – with the option of retaining the building and replacing the roof the most popular choice among the 1,130 who responded.

However three options which revolved around demolishing the centre and making the site available for development, and closing the building permanently, have now been ruled out by the working group considering options for the future of the building after they emerged as the least popular outcomes.

Shropshire Council previously estimated that work to demolish and rebuild the complex like-for-like would cost between £6m and £7.6m. Work to repair or replace the roof has been estimated at up to £2.45m.

“The preferred option… among respondents is the replacement of the structural roof and associated essential items. Also fairly popular were the option that RAAC remains in place and mitigated through internal structural framework, followed by the demolition and rebuild as existing facilities,” said the report.

“The most unacceptable option for most was to do nothing and close the building, followed closely by demolition and clearing of the site.

“Demolition and redevelopment was also unpopular among survey respondents, and many provided comments to the effect that any redevelopment would need to contain most or all of the previous facilities.”

At the turn of the year Shropshire Council announced their preferred option was to demolish the centre and redevelop the site as a “mixed-use development” at a cost of around £1.25million, but have been considering other options put forward as part of a report to cabinet on January 17 which formed the basis of the public consultation.

Initial findings from the survey were published in July by the working group, which is made up of local Shropshire Councillors, Whitchurch Town Councillors, and officers from both councils.

Speaking after the release of the initial report Paul Wynn, Shropshire Councillor for Prees, and chairman of the working group said the response, which took in around 10 per cent of the population of the town, had been incredible.

“We know the importance of the Civic Centre to Whitchurch and to people who live in and around the town and we launched this consultation as we really wanted to hear people’s views about the future of the building,” he said.

“We had an incredible response that shows that the Civic Centre is clearly a vital and well-used feature of the town, both by residents of the town and nearby villages. And, from the results it was very clear that people’s preference is to either repair or replace the Centre.”

A feasibility study will now be carried out into two options for the future of the building, one of which involves repairing the existing roof structure and the other to “demolish and rebuild as existing facilities provision”.

Results from the feasibility study and a business case for the redevelopment are expected to be brought before Shropshire Council’s cabinet later this year.