05
The Committee received and considered the report from the Head of Property & Assets.
Councillor Jeal requested that this item be deferred as he felt that the officer report was incomplete as a number of sports clubs and community centres had been omitted, for example, Peggotty Road Community Centre. Councillor Waters-Bunn reported that Southtown Common was also missing.
The Chair suggested that the Head of Property & Assets present his report in the first instance.
The Head of Property & Assets reported that his report detailed information regarding the management, oversight, governance and operational arrangements of Council-owned assets used by community groups, charities, sports clubs and other third-party organisations. The report responded to questions raised by the Scrutiny Committee concerning assurance, compliance, financial transparency, asset condition, inspection regimes and food safety requirements.
The Head of Property & Assets reported that the following assets had leases from the Council:-
- Fisherman's Rest Rooms
- RSPCA - Tar Works Road
- Caister Lifeboat Station
- Wellesley Recreation Ground Club House
- Cobholm Community Centre
- Priory Gardens - Gorleston
- Air Training Corps - Suffolk Road
- Dissenters Burial Ground.
Councillor Jeal asked if Peggotty Road Community Centre operated under a lease. The Executive Director - Place reported that Peggotty Road did not operate under a lease but under a licence from the Council. Under a lease arrangement, the Council retains responsibility for the building fabric, maintenance and statutory compliance. As the users do not manage or control the buildings, the Council does not require the committee to provide constitutions, financial statements, governance information or AGM details.
Councillor Jeal reported that he was concerned with the running of Peggotty Road Community Centre as the Committee ran it as a "family business" and not as a community centre which was a concern to the ward councillors as it had taken over three years to get it up and running following the dissolution of the former committee.
The Chair proposed that the officers be asked to provide a supplementary report at the June meeting detailing all the community centres and sports grounds which were operated under a licence or hire agreement. This suggestion was approved by the committee.
Councillor Newcombe asked for clarification as to the difference between a Lease, Licence and Hire agreement. The Executive Director - Resources reported that a License agreement granting limited, non-exclusive use for defined times or activities, with no transfer of management or repair responsibilities. A Hire agreement was typically for one-off bookings of community spaces such as a birthday party.
The Chair asked how many formal leases have been issued by the council and whether there were any outstanding leases to be issued. The Head of Property & Assets reported that there were 8 leases and none outstanding. The Chair reported that, to his knowledge, there were several clubs operating form a council owned asset without a lease, for example, Shrublands FC. The Monitoring Officer suggested that this should be looked into as part of the requested supplementary agenda report.
The Chair requested clarification that a leaseholder would pay a percentage of the bills for the leased building such as water and electricity. The Executive Director - Place explained that the Wellesley Recreation Club House, which was run by GY Football Club under a lease, paid for the utilities they used in the clubhouse only.
Councillor McMullen asked for clarification in regard to Priory Gardens, as to what Council owned asset was sited there. The Chair reported that there was a boarded-up building in the corner which had operated as a coffee shop. Councillor McMullen asked for contact details of the Friends of Priory Gardens. The Head of Property & Assets reported that the Friends of Priory Gardens were contactable through their Facebook page. Priory Gardens was let to the Friends on a peppercorn lease and the gardens were maintained by the council. The building in question was used for storage purposes.
Councillor McMullen informed the committee that she had looked on Facebook and the group was dormant. The Head of Property & Assets agreed to look into the Friends of Priory Gardens to ascertain if they were still in operation.
The Chair asked if all community centres who served food to the public which had been prepared on the premises was inspected annually by Environmental Health. The Head of Property & Assets reported that this was not a requirement of the lease and it was at the onus of the operator. The Executive Director explained that if a parent hired a community centre to host a children's birthday party and served food as part of the party celebrations, that the council would not expect the parents or helpers to have a food hygiene certificate.
The Chair referred to section 4 of the report and asked if an officer attended the AGM of the eight committees who had been granted leases by the Council to ensure that their governance and financial statements were in order. The Head of Property & Assets reported that this did not take place due to lack of officer resources. However, the council was in the process of supporting the Fishing Federation to update their constitution and his team was offering advice in regard to a lease.
Councillor Waters-Bunn reported that as Shrublands FC did not have a lease, as it was not included in the table at section 5, it must operate under a licence and therefore the buck would ultimately lie with the council if there was a breach of health or hygiene. It would therefore be prudent to identify in writing who was responsible for what i.e. the council or the leasee/licensee. Councillor Waters-Bunn informed the officers that if they were to visit Shrublands Community Centre they would have no option but to rebuke the lease.
Councillor Waters-Bunn informed the committee that the kitchen at Cobholm Community Centre was filthy and that they regularly prepared and served food to the public, for example they had catered for a 100 people at a Christmas party in 2025, using the kitchen which had not been inspected by Environment Health and did not have a food safety certificate.
The Monitoring Officer advised the committee that the preparation of food and the cleanliness of the kitchen was the responsibility of the lessee and she assured members that other landlords would not take responsibility for regulatory functions. She advised that if members had any concerns in regard to food hygiene that they refer the matter to Environmental Health.
Councillor Waters-Bunn suggested that as the landlord, the Council should tell our lessees what they need to do and suggested that we should provide an "idiot guide" of requirements. The Executive Director - Place agreed to take this away as an action point and to ask that EH provide a crib sheet of requirements for the licence holder and which clearly stated that the leaseholder would be responsible for their actions.
The Executive Director - Place suggested that if members were concerned in regard to a community group that officers could intervene and offer assistance and advice to help community groups to flourish and grow.
Councillor Grant reported that he had questions in regard to leases of the council's commercial buildings as lines had become blurred with these too. He requested that a Review of Commercial Leases be undertaken in the 2026-2027 Work Programme as the majority of these were heavily underutilised. The Chair suggested that this be added to the Work Programme for September/October 2026.
Councillor Murray-Smith made an observation in regard to the table at section 5 of the report which he felt was not very well presented. It did not contain information which members might have found useful, such as amount of income per asset and whether they made a surplus, broke even or were a burden to the tax-payers of the borough. The Executive Director - Resources reported that all assets were a burden and to her knowledge, none of them made a surplus but that the council was committed to supporting its community assets which benefited our residents. She informed the committee that the assets team were currently working with financial services to identify this information via cost centres.
Councillor Newcombe reported that she was concerned in regard to food allergies with food not being prepared or labelled correctly at our community centres. A death of a member of the public had resulted from a sandwich not being correctly labelled at Pret-a-Manger resulting in a costly wrongful death suit.
Councillor P Carpenter asked for clarification as to who owned the RSPCA building at Tar Works Road. The Head of Property & Assets reported that the RSPCA had recently applied for planning permission to extend the building which had been approved as the council supported the expansion to the reception area which improved to the council owned asset.
Councillor P Carpenter asked in regard to the former Gatehouse at Priory Gardens and what plans the council had to improve its derelict condition.The Head of Property & Assets reported that assets are appraised on a yearly basis but there were currently no plans for the Gatehouse as the Friends of Priory Gardens had a lease on the building. Councillor P Carpenter asked if this meant that the building would be left to rot in situ. The Head of Property & Assets agreed to take this issue away and to look to see what the long term plans were for this listed building. The Chair reported that the council looked at improvements to this building in the early 2000's but that the costs were prohibitive.
Councillor McMullen reported that the last AGM for the Friends of Priory Gardens was listed having taken place in 2019. Councillor Newcombe reported that she had looked on the Charity Commission website and there was no activity since 2022.
The Chair asked if the council had a complete Asset Register. The Executive Director - Resources explained that we had approximately 900 assets ranging from public toilets to football pitches and the Head of Property & Assets and his team were working hard to pull all of this information together.
The Chair reported that he did not want to see a repeat of what had happened in the 1970's when no ownership of parcels of land at Shrublands could be shown by the council which were ultimately sold off.
The Monitoring Officer asked if the register was accessible to members. The Executive Director - Resources reported that it was on Concerto which membranes did not have access too as it contained sensitive data in regard to tenants. The Chair asked if the register would be available in map browser format when completed.
Councillor Murray-Smith asked if the Friends of Priory Gardens had disbanded and as a result one of our assets was falling in to disrepair would this constitute a break in the lease and allow the council to get the building back.
Councillor Waters-Bunn asked who was responsibly for our communal rooms. The Head of Property & Assets reported that Housing was responsible for them.
Councillor Waters-Bunn highlighted that most village community infrastructure was owned by the parishes. The Executive Director - Place confirmed that this was correct apart from playgrounds.
Councillor Grant highlighted that members should think carefully about our assets and how they would be managed by the new East Norfolk Authority. Prior to the Statutory Structural Change Order in the autumn, the council should carefully consider the protection of important assets in the borough.
The Chair proposed that he write to the Leader and Labour Leader on behalf of the Scrutiny Committee asking Cabinet to consider the protection of assets in our borough prior to the implementation of the Statutory Structural Change Order for LGR in Autumn 2026. For example, would it be prudent to transfer the public toilet block at Martham to Martham Parish Council, would it be plausible for new Community Trusts to be set up to look after identified assets or could the Town Board mutate and become a Town Council to manage our assets with the same heart that Great Yarmouth Borough Council had moving forwards into the new East Norfolk Council era. The Committee agreed that the Chair to write to the Leader and Shadow Leader.
RESOLVED:-
(i) That the Committee note the report,
(ii) That a Supplementary Report be presented at the June meeting detailing all Community Centres & Sports Grounds without a lease, e.g., Peggotty Road,
(iii) To ask Environmental Health to provide an information sheet detailing the requirements if food is to be served for public consumption which has been prepared at a Communal Room or Community Centre,
(iv) The Head of Property & Assets to look into the Gatehouse at Priory Gardens, Gorleston and to engage with the Friends of Priory Gardens to ascertain their long-term plans for the buildings; and
(v) That the Chair of Scrutiny write to the Leader and Labour Leader asking Cabinet to consider the protection of assets in our borough prior to the implementation of the Statutory Structural Change Order for LGR in Autumn 2026.