Councillors to debate whether to take responsibility for landmark Telford building
Parish councillors will go behind closed doors next week to debate whether to take on responsibility for refurbishing a Victorian former school and Telford landmark.
The Gower School House, in St Georges, was built in 1873 as a cottage hospital then converted to a school before closing in the 1960s. It has since housed youth clubs, and was Grade II-listed in 2014.
St Georges and Priorslee Parish Council agreed to hold an emergency meeting on Monday, October 21 to decide whether to take on the proposed renovation. The press and public will be excluded.
Chairman Richard Overton said there was “no question” of demolishing the building, known as ‘The Gower’.
The parish council’s parish plan committee met on October 1. Minutes say that, in closed session, Telford and Wrekin Council architectural officers presented information packs with detailed designs and drawings and an estimated budget for the proposed refurbishment, based on the parish council’s specification.
The minutes add: “Members raised a number of questions relating to the proposed design-estimated budget figures, including concern that, should the building come back into community use, it could have a negative impact on other existing community buildings in the parish.
Implications
“The clerk distributed members with a copy of estimated running costs and a propsed funding model for the Gower project. Members debated the financial implications the project could have on the parish council in detail.”
The seven-member committee decided to call a whole-council EGM “to consider if the parish council should take on the responsibility of the project, subject to the outcome of a planned programme of community consultation and engagement.”
Replying to a question from the public gallery, Councillor Overton – who represents the St Georges West ward which includes Gower Street – said: “There is no question of knocking it down, as far as the parish council is concerned.”
The building is owned by Telford and Wrekin Council and managed by volunteers.
The Gower Heritage and Enterprise Group was constituted in 2014 and achieved charitable status in 2016. Its aims include promoting heritage, good citizenship and wellbeing, and its events centre around the Gower Street venue.
