HOPES of preserving Weymouth's historic Brewers Quay as an asset of community value have been dashed after Dorset Council ruled that the building, along with nearby car parks, do not meet the criteria.
As reported, developer Blakesley Estates has expressed intentions of purchasing the iconic red brick former brewery in Hope Square after it was put up for sale by liquidators acting on behalf of previous owner Versant.
A sale has been agreed although the purchase has not been finalised.
But prior to the sale being agreed, Weymouth Area Development Trust (WADT) had approached Dorset Council with a proposal to protect the building for use by the community.
If successful, WADT would have been granted time to raise the necessary funds to purchase the building.
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But the council has now confirmed that the proposal to preserve the building for use by the community will go no further because, in the view of the authority, the building does not meet the necessary criteria.
The criteria states that a building must currently be serving the 'social wellbeing or social interests' of the local community, or that it was being used to serve the community in the 'recent past' and that there is a realistic chance such uses would continue.
According to Dorset Council, the Hope Square building does not meet those criteria.
With a sale already agreed with a developer, it now seems inevitable that the building will be developed for the private market.
The community proposal also included plans for preserving the Coopers Building workshops to the rear of Brewers Quay and two car parks.
These include Brewery Reach (which is now a building site but was formerly Newtons Road Car Park) and Newbury Gardens Car Park.
Part of Newbury Gardens Car Park is leased to Dorset Council and used by permit holders, including residents and businesses. The Echo has asked Dorset Council whether the permit scheme will continue if and when the land is sold.
The other half of Newbury Gardens Car Park is run privately and is the nearest parking for Weymouth Museum - but the council has ruled the land is not a community asset.
The museum is based at Brewers Quay, and has a 25 year lease that started in 2016. Previous planning applications for Brewers Quay were approved with a caveat that space for a museum must be included.
Councillor Tony Ferrari, Dorset Council’s portfolio holder for Economic Growth, Assets and Property.“We have considered a proposal from the Weymouth Area Development Trust (WADT) to have Brewers Quay, Brewery Reach and the Newberry Gardens car park added to the register of Assets of Community Value, but we’ve concluded that the properties do not meet the criteria for inclusion.
“The Assets of Community Value legislation was introduced in the Localism Act of 2011. If a property is registered, it cannot be sold without allowing extra time for any interested community organisations to draw up a bid – though there is no obligation to sell to them. The nomination has been carefully assessed against the strict criteria set out in the legislation, and in this case we do not consider the properties pass the tests for inclusion.
“The criteria for inclusion are that an actual current use of the property furthers the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community, and that it is realistic to think that there can continue to be such uses.
"Alternatively, a property can be included if it has had such a use in the recent past and it is realistic to think that there will be such a use within the next five years.
"In this case, individual parts of the nominated site have been considered separately, but while some parts of Brewers Quay are or have in the recent past, been in community use, there was not considered to be a realistic prospect of community uses of those same parts of the building necessarily continuing or being introduced again.
“We have included this building, recognised as one of the most significant in Weymouth Town Centre Conservation Area, as part of our Levelling Up funding bid to Government. We are due to hear the outcome of the bid in September.”
Responding to the news, Chris Wilson of Weymouth Area Development Trust said: "We're disappointed that Dorset Council has decided not to declare it as an asset of community value - we submitted the nomination on behalf of other community groups having consulted them and the town council. The letter we have agreed there was a valid case to make but Dorset Council has chosen to interpret the legislation in a way to exclude the community from having a chance to raise the funds to buy part of or be involved with Brewers Quay in the future.
"It does come as a blow - all we can hope for is that the developers in the process of buying it are willing to involve the community and not let the building fall into further disrepair."
Had the bid been successful it was hoped that plans for the building could have involved the museum as well as community, arts and heritage groups.
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