Medway Council poised to sell off 30 properties including grade-I listed Temple Manor and Rainham Shopping Centre to balance books
An historic manor house and a shopping centre are among a host of properties which could be sold to help a cash-strapped council balance its books.
Labour-run Medway Council looks poised to offload 30 of its own assets to help scale down its costly maintenance spend on buildings and reduce its predicted budget overspend.
In a bid to help claw back the cash the authority is set consider recommendations to sell off major properties including Temple Manor, a grade-I listed manor house in Strood, Gillingham Business Park, and Rainham District Shopping Centre.
The properties also include units in industrial estates in Livingstone, Scotland, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, and Cwmbran in Wales,
Other Medway properties included on the list are the Indoor Bowls Club on Prince Arthur Road and Britton Farm Shopping Centre in Gillingham high Street, and Warren Wood Social Club in Rochester.
Eastgate Cottage is also on the list of surplus properties, but this is separate from Eastgate House on Rochester High Street, as well as nearly 180,000 square metres of land at Abbotts Court Farm, Bredhurst in Gillingham.
If sold, it’s predicted the portfolio will regain the council £34.9million.
It’s hoped the move will reduce the authority’s maintenance spend on properties it owns and bring down the overall predicted overspend of the council –which was predicted to be £16.5million in July.
Since 2018, Medway Council has sold 47 properties it previously owned and raised £12.6million – but more may now be on the way.
September 2024