Housing could be added to Victorian Telford school renovation plan

Built in 1873, The Gower, in St Georges, Telford, originally served as a cottage hospital before converting into a school. It closed in 1960 and needs repairs to be brought back into use.

St Georges and Priorslee Parish Council planned to take responsibility for the refit, which would have included moving its headquarters into building, and providing community rooms, a cafe, and other facilities, and commissioned a business plan to look at the venture.

But members said that document showed the idea was “not viable” and carried “massive financial risk”.

Instead, they voted to pursue a joint project with Telford and Wrekin Council – which owns the Gower Street site – which would provide housing, along with community facilities.

St Georges councillor David Wright said the business plan, which assumed the parish council would be responsible for the refurbishment and manage the finished building, “doesn’t stack up, financially, and is not viable”.

He added: “I don’t think the parish is in a position where it could make a commitment to the level of finance required to move this project forward on a standalone basis.

“That is compounded by the fact that there is huge uncertainty about the future anyway, with Covid.

“I do think we need to look at an alternative option that shares risk.”

As well as discussing the business plan, members received a presentation from Telford and Wrekin Council Prosperity and Investment Director James Dunn and Housing Investment Programme Manager Kate Callis, outlining the local authority’s alternative plan for the three-quarter-acre site.

Priorslee councillor Robert Cadman said: “I think we’re all in a similar position about how the current business case as put forward is a non-starter.

“The Telford and Wrekin proposal could be viable and obviously needs some further work.”

Chairman Richard Overton said: “I agree with Rob. It’s not financially viable to do it as a standalone project. There’s massive risk to the parish council.”

He tabled a motion to “continue dialogue with Telford and Wrekin Council over their alternative option for the Gower building, incorporating a community building and housing on the site”.

This was approved by members, who also voted to abandon the original business plan.

After the meeting, Councillor Cadman said: “There’s a long way to go on this, and I’ll be keeping a close eye on developments. But, in the immediate term, I’m relieved the parish council won’t be burdened with such a big project and the associated costs."

In a parish council statement, Councillor Overton said: “The business plan produced for the parish council shows that the Gower is a major community asset but it can’t generate enough income to be self-sustaining. The Covid pandemic has made this even more difficult because we don’t know when we will be able to get back to normality in terms of letting out community buildings for large-scale events.

“We’ll now need to take a different approach in order to move forward. We’re working on some options and we should be able to make a decision in the next few weeks.”