PROCEEDS from the sale of Blacon’s former library are set to be spent in the estate after councillors were urged to keep the cash in the community.

Cheshire West and Chester Council’s overview and scrutiny committee considered the pending sale of the former Blacon library on Tuesday night.

The proceeds are expected to be transferred to Avenue Services – a social enterprise which provides environmental, housing, employment and youth services in Blacon – in line with a commitment set in 2014.

But that decision was called in for scrutiny by Cllr Neil Sullivan, shadow cabinet member for finance, and supported by six of his Conservative council colleagues.

He pointed out that CWAC has a funding gap of £67 million over the next four years, which drops to £32 million when council tax and business rates are considered, while the council also has a capital programme worth £238 million over the next three years.

Cllr Sullivan said: “Is this absolutely the correct decision for the council to take at this point in time with those significant financial challenges?

“Not for one moment are we saying that this would deal with those challenges, but it is part of the picture.

“This is scarce council finance being dealt with at arms-length at a time when there are significant pressures on all service areas.”

The member for Handbridge Park called on the council to consider setting up a cross-party review into the proceeds being passed onto Avenue Services, and also for the social enterprise’s performance to be reviewed.

CWAC made the decision to transfer the proceeds of any sale of assets in Blacon to Avenue Services in March 2014, under the Conservative administration, and that commitment was reaffirmed two years later by Labour.

Cllr Sullivan insisted that the decision was ‘above my pay grade’ at the time – but Cllr Steve Collings, Labour, admitted he was confused that Conservatives were now going against their original decision.

He said: “That would be a sticking plaster for the money we’ve lost as a council, but to Blacon it’s an absolute lifeline.

“I just don’t understand how the people who agreed to ringfence the assets now want to take the assets away – it just doesn’t make any sense.”

The case for Avenue Services was laid out by former councillor Reggie Jones, who insisted that ‘Blacon is working’ after the enterprise helped to secure funding for a new enterprise centre, supported business creation, improved the environment and developed infrastructure.

Eve Davies, a Blacon resident of 46 years and former community director of Avenue Services, also warned the committee that CWAC risked going back against assurances it made to residents in 2016 and again in a 2018 consultation if the proceeds from the library were not passed over.

Support for Avenue Services was echoed by Cllr Carol Gahan, Labour member for Blacon and CWAC’s cabinet member for finance.

She said: “What better use could there be from the proceeds of any sale than to allow them to be released for reinvestment in Blacon following the readmission of a satisfactory business case?

“There is no doubt that what we are seeing are really positive changes in Blacon – all our schools are now good or outstanding.

“However, Blacon is still a deprived area and is classified as a deprivation hotspot in Cheshire West, and much work still needs to be done.

“This is about a community which is improving – why on earth would you consider taking money away from it now?”

The committee did not block the cash being transferred to Avenue Services, but it recommended that the enterprise’s performance should be monitored alongside CWAC’s other arms-length firms, following a suggestion from Conservative Cllr Harry Tonge.

It also suggested the cabinet should explore whether the success of Avenue Services could replicated elsewhere in the borough.