The document describes a partnership project between local councils and a community group in Stourport, UK to regenerate underused public buildings. Through consultation and an asset transfer, the groups agreed to redevelop two buildings into a new community center housing various services, organizations, and a theater. This solved the problem of aging public buildings and empowered the community to lead while achieving cost savings for the councils. The project showed how different sectors can work together through open communication to meet local needs.

1. Workshop C
Building successful partnerships
Peter Parkes – Worcestershire County Council
Ian Fisher – Worcestershire County Council
Liz Sheerin – Stourport Forward Community Group

2. Introduction
 One size does not fit all
 Different solutions to meet local needs
 Stourport scenario typical of many towns
 Public sector contracting
 Private sector unsure about investment
 Town centre in need of regeneration
 Communities often with greatest needs

3. Add a few new dimensions
 Localism (and what does that mean?)
 A political landscape that can be conflicting
 The need for a 3rd way of doing things
 Allowing the community to lead, run and
manage services…….
 And take over some of our buildings

4. Can you achieve a ‘win-win’ solution?
Yes you can….if you
 Have a united vision
 The right mix of skills
 And the right people in the room!

5. Stourport ‘Live’
This project is all about how WFDC, WCC, STC
and the CAP helped to empower the local
community in Stourport to make the best use
of ‘their’ property assets.

6. Background Information
• Stourport, along with many similar rural market
towns in the UK, is struggling because of its
relative isolation in terms of transport
infrastructure and historically low property
values.
• Stourport has 4 main public facing buildings, but
unfortunately these were all built in the 1960s
and are now struggling !

7. Background Information

8. How the process began
• Wyre Forest District Council will relocate their headquarters from
Stourport to a more central location in the District in September 2012
• WFDC established the Stourport Facilities Project Board to consider
the future of the Stourport Civic Centre after WFDC vacate the site in
July 2012 and pledged to provide up to £1 million for provision of
Stourport Facilities.
• Worcestershire County Council, through the Capital and Asset
Partnership, began to look at opportunities for co-location with their
public sector partners and a framework for dealing with Community
Right to Bid applications.
• This caused anxiety in the town and initially led to the formation of
protest groups who were looking to save ALL the public sector
buildings.

9. How the process began
• The Chair of the WFDC Project Board, also a local Town
Councillor, with the support of WCC and WFDC Members
helped set up a local Steering Group, as a sub – group of the
Stourport Facilities Project Board, to look into what could be
done to protect and preserve local services within a more
sustainable property solution.
• This Steering Group has cross-council, cross-party
representation, and also includes partners from the
community and business sectors.
• This group agreed to sign a confidentiality agreement, that
stopped individuals benefiting at the expense of others.

10. How the process began
The formation and ambition of this group
attracted interest from the Asset Transfer Unit
and Community Builders who subsequently
provided initial grant support and agreed to
help make Stourport one of five national pilots
looking at Multiple Community Asset Transfer.

11. Process Mapping
• A detailed mapping exercise and ”SWOT” analysis was
undertaken which revealed the following highlights:
• Strengths - one town with one voice (the Steering Group).
• Weaknesses – all public sector buildings were built in
the1960s. No opportunities in private sector buildings.
• Opportunities - strong well established community group
(Stourport Forward), strong volunteer base, local
commissioning (Positive Activities ).
• Threats – current level of public facing buildings
unsustainable!

12. Process Mapping
• The Steering Group, with the support of the Asset
Transfer Unit, then began a series of public
consultation events, which helped show the local
community that preserving ‘services’ was actually far
more important than just protecting all public
buildings!
• The idea of community asset transfer was also
introduced and gradually former protest groups
became supporters and were even heard using the
word ‘compromise’!

13. Where are we now?
• We have identified a property solution that will see the
redevelopment of one site (two buildings) into a
community heart. This site has a community theatre
and is at the centre of the town.
• This solution is the one the community chose and is
also welcomed by the business sector, who see this
project as being a vital link to a £7million private sector
regeneration of the adjoining town centre and canal
basin.

14. Where are we now?
• WFDC has now provisionally agreed to sell the site for
£1 to a Holding Body that will be made up of the Town
Council, Stourport Forward and a local volunteer
theatre group.
• Wyre Forest District and Worcestershire County
Council are also looking to invest £1.1million of the
£1.6 million capital needed to help regenerate this site.
It is anticipated that the shortfall will come from
private sector investment and/or a small business loan.

15. Where are we now?

16. Where are we now?
• Proposed tenants (Income
of £ 52,000 per annum )
• Local charities including Headway
• Gym/business incubator units/
• Stourport Town Council
other types of accommodation
• Library (private sector investment).
• Coroner • Youth Theatre and Youth Zone
• Police • Wyre Forest Community Housing
• Job Centre Plus • Wyre Forest Hub
• Support Guidance Skills • Café (possibly run in conjunction
• Stourport Forward with the Learning Disability
• The Civic Theatre Group Service )

17. Where are we now?
• There will be one reception, one staff welfare
area ,one set of toilets and one cleaning contract!
• This is not however just about bringing services
together, this is about everyone supporting each
other to drive down costs and help community
organisations. The Hub staff, for example, can
help the community theatre with marketing and
booking arrangements

18. Lessons Learned
• You must, as a Council, try and engage with
the community at the earliest possible
opportunity and cannot assume that the
Local Authority always knows best!
It is very difficult to impose an idea on an
unwilling community, particularly if you are
looking for their support around volunteer
led solutions and Community Asset
Transfer.

19. Lessons Learned

20. Lessons Learned
• You must know your building portfolio in terms
of capacity, condition ,DDA compliance and
sustainability – and always have up to date
property information when presenting to a local
audience (they often know about local
covenants, recent repairs and boundary disputes
as we have discovered with other projects!)
• One size does not fit all, as the “SWOT” Analysis
will always show.

21. Lessons Learned
• Capital receipts should not always be the driving force
behind these reviews. Revenue savings can often be
far more significant.
WCC’s main building in Stourport is likely to close as a
result of this project. At best this building has a capital
value of £500,000 but, more importantly, we can
potentially save approximately £300,000 per annum in
staffing, utility costs and maintenance backlog
payments, through relocation to the proposed new
community venue.

22. Lessons Learned
• Ideally, you should promote a ‘mixed’ economy of uses to
prevent over reliance on one future funding stream and
have a combination of professional and voluntary staff.
• You need to be innovative around capital funding:
* look at the potential of securing commercial sponsorship
( advertising, signage or naming rights ).
* look at Community Infrastructure Levy, New Homes
Bonus and Section 106 funding opportunities.
* look at the potential of local labour helping with
refurbishment work and use of apprenticeship schemes,
under the direction of a main building contractor.

23. Lessons Learned
• Community Asset Transfer is not easy because
local people are often concerned about taking on
business loans, public liability, capital taxation,
health and safety legislation and EU procurement
rules, but this project will hopefully show that
when a working partnership of the public,
commercial and voluntary sectors comes
together with the support of the ATU, then
fantastic things can happen.

24. Lessons Learned
• Hopefully as is the case with Stourport local
communities will begin to realise that the Local
Authority can no longer continue to do
everything but at the same time, the Local
Authority can not just offload it’s worst buildings
and run!
• This has to be about a partnership and a new
model of property ownership centred on more
local responsibility and accountability.

25. WE WOULD LIKE TO LEAVE YOU WITH 2 QUOTES
The first from Baroness Hanham, Parliamentary
Under Secretary for State:
• “I recently visited Worcestershire myself and
had the opportunity to see the excellent
progress the Worcestershire Partnership has
made with its work on capital assets. Their
projects illustrate the value that can be gained
by working with other public bodies to bring
together the delivery of Public Services.”

26. WE WOULD LIKE TO LEAVE YOU WITH 2 QUOTES
• The second quote is from Ian Bradley, Chair of the
Local Community Theatre Group:
• “Already, through their involvement with this project,
volunteers are facilitating change and shaping better
outcomes for the community. Providing a physical
‘heart of the community’ will further empower this
community to grew, unite, strengthen and work
together to develop the facilities and services that will
take them forward into the future.”

27. Any Questions?
Your Contacts are:
Iain Fisher – ifisher@worcestershire.gov.uk
Liz Sheerin – stourportforward@btconnect.com