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Insole Court – Community Asset Transfer

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Insole Court – Community Asset Transfer CARDIFF COUNCIL CYNGOR CAERDYDD EXECUTIVE BUSINESS MEETING:15 SEPTEMBER 2011 INSOLE COURT – COMMUNITY ASSET TRANSFER REPORT OF CORPORATE CHIEF OFFICER (COMMUNITIES) AGENDA ITEM: 15 PORTFOLIO : SPORT, LEISURE & CULTURE Reason for this Report 1. To report, as requested by the Executive in July 2009, on the outcome of the review for alternative management options for Insole Court (such as Trusts, including the National Trust) to provide a funding stream to enable the completion of the refurbishment. Background 2. Insole Court is a Grade II* listed Victorian mansion house and is partly used as a local community facility and partly rented out for office space, but substantial parts of the house are derelict and not in use. The house is also surrounded by a Grade II registered historic garden which serves as a public open space for the local community and is designated as a Conservation Area. There are nine other individually Grade II listed structures within the grounds, five of which are identified as ‘at risk’ and three ‘vulnerable’. 3. Following a decision in July 2007, £650,000 was made available through the Capital Programme for the restoration of parts of the ground floor and for safety improvements recommended by the Fire Service. Further capital allocations (£200k in 2009/10 and £50k in 2010/11) were made available to restore the West Wing (known as the Swiss Wing). The two upper floors are in a very poor condition and remain out of use. 4. More recently it has been necessary to protect the fire damaged stable block outbuilding by commissioning the installation of a new roof at a cost of £120,000. 5. At the end of 2010 / 2011 Insole Court cost the Council £181,733 to run and generated 51,580 visits. 6. To help define the long term needs, management aims and the feasibility of uses and in order to secure the building and sites’ future, Leisure Services commissioned Purcell Miller Tritton LLP, a firm of specialist Page 1 of 8 conservation architects, to produce a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) which amongst others, would provide: • An assessment of the issues and risks facing Insole Court. • Potential opportunities and scope for change that the building could accommodate. • A set of conservation policies which will provide guidance about how to protect and enhance the significance of Insole Court, while also allowing for sustainable managed change so that the building and site have a viable long term future. 7. Since the Council acquired the property in the 1930’s as a result of compulsory purchase for the construction of Western Avenue, it has been difficult to find a relevant and coordinated function for the house and grounds. In recent years several potential partners have either approached the Council or been approached by officers with a view to being able to refurbish the whole building and bring it back into use whilst still providing fully accessible facilities for community use. 8. It has not been possible to progress any of these options for various reasons , not least because of the amount of capital contribution requested from the Council by the partner; the long term sustainability of the proposal and difficulties caused by other factors such as the lack of parking on the site. 9. In 2010 Purcell Miller Tritton LLP identified the opportunity to transfer the management of the house and gardens to a Trust formed by the Friends of Insole Court and associate groups under a Big Lottery/WAG Community Asset Transfer (CAT) application. 10. This proposal met with support from the Council and The Friends of Insole Court and in January 2011 Purcell Miller Tritton along with DCA (Business & Development Consultants) were commissioned to develop an options appraisal for forming a Trust to take over the operation of the house and gardens and prepare a Round 1 CAT application for submission in March 2011. The outcome of this application was successful and has provided funding of up to £35,000 to enable a detailed business plan to be developed. The maximum funds available through the CAT scheme are £800,000. Issues 11. The house is currently managed by the Community Facilities section of Cardiff Council, represented on the site by a full time site manager and a small number of other part time staff who manage the building and book and oversee activity. The gardens are managed by the Council’s Parks and Sports Service whose staff cover a range of sites and are not based at Insole Court. The split management of the site between the Leisure and Parks services adds to the difficulties of coherence. 12. The house is open six and on some occasions seven days a week for daytime and evening activities but with only four rooms available for hire Page 2 of 8 the commercial viability of the house is limited. The current need to maximise income and attendance levels from room lettings and the poor condition of much of the building restricts the Friends from showing the heritage of the house to schools and other tour groups. 13. The Friends are very active in the heritage and marketing of Insole Court and are effectively already in a very full partnership with the Council. The Friends' contribution to the heritage arrangement is entirely undertaken by more than 100 volunteers contributing to many areas of the operation. The Friends secured a £45,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund during 2009 to detail and raise the profile of the Insole family legacy. 14. The Conservation Management Plan highlighted a number of issues and vulnerabilities which Insole Court is subject to. Those main areas highlighted in the report are detailed below. • Whilst the main ground floor rooms have been well renovated, very large parts of the house remain closed off to the public and in a dilapidated condition. This deprives the facility of eleven of the fifteen main usable public rooms for activity in the house. Whilst this is not under immediate threat as it has been stabilised by the Council, for the long term these spaces will deteriorate further and will not be brought back into beneficial use without investment. • Ad hoc changes to make repairs and to try to restore parts of the building lack co-ordination and are more costly than a single contract of works to the whole site. • The presentation of the site is poor, with deteriorating structures and garden features, and bland landscaping and utilitarian WWII garages to the north of the house. These could all deter clients from hiring the venue and therefore could mean a loss of potential income. 15. The Trust was formed and registered as a limited company in July 2011. The trust board is made up of five founder trustees taken from the Friends, the Llandaff Society and the Llandaff Residents Association. There are two positions on the board as observers which are represented by the chair of the Friends and Cllr Nigel Howells representing Cardiff Council. The Trust is currently moving forward with an application for charity status. 16. In July 2011 a heads of terms agreement was signed between the Council and the Trust to set out how the future relationship between both parties would work (appendix 1). This document does not have any legal status, but maps out at an early stage the expectations and accountability expected from both organisations. Further discussions on the heads of terms agreement will continue until formal legal handover is completed, including detailed terms for a potential long term lease. Page 3 of 8 17. Once the services that will continue to be provided from the site have been agreed, discussions will take place with all the relevant parties on whether TUPE applies. 18. Alongside a major investment to improve and renew the Court and its grounds, the Trust would have opportunities to improve the management of the heritage site by taking on responsibility for its operation from the Council. Although the Council will still take care of the external fabric of the house which would include the commitment to build up a reserve of funding each year to cover future maintenance costs, the Trust will be in a position to raise and dedicate more money to the upkeep of the whole site. 19. The management of the gardens is likely to be handed over to the Trust under a phased approach. Further discussion with appropriate officers is required to add detail to this proposal and these considerations will form an integral element of the detailed lease agreement. Funding the proposal Capital Funding 20. In July 2011 the Big Lottery/WAG community asset transfer fund (CAT) approved a round 1 application for the release of £35,000 of development funding to the Trust. This funding will lead to the development of a business plan and a stage 2 submission in January 2012. Approval of the stage 2 in June 2012 could release £765,000 of further funding. 21. In tandem with the CAT bid the consultants have submitted an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund which if successful over 2 separate assessment rounds will generate a further £1,995,900 of funding for this project (appendix 2). Approval of the HLF application and full funding would be expected in October 2012. 22. The commissioning of professional services to manage the funding and business planning is a key issue for this project. Council Officers will use an existing framework to appoint a multi-disciplined design team, with heritage experience to manage this project. 23. The Council would negotiate additional funding up to £380,000 on the understanding that this funding is used as a contingency only in the event that not enough funding is secured through external grants.
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