"Could We Use Public Assets More Efficiently?" Asks Local Liberal Democrat County Councillor

Liberal Democrat County Councillor for Tring, Nick Hollinghurst, has recently been finding his way round his new responsibilities as Opposition Spokesman on Community Safety, Waste Management, Strategic Planning, Transport and the Environment - a broad spread indeed of committees to try to keep track of! But last month it took him somewhat off course and into the world of property management.

This arose from an initiative by the Coalition Government aimed at encouraging shared use of buildings owned by public authorities. A £700,000 Transformation Grant was awarded to Herts County Council to move four libraries into four of the county's smaller fire stations - at Buntingford, Redbourn, Sawbridgeworth and Wheathampstead. The total project will cost £2,263,000. However with capital receipts from disposal of three of the vacated premises - the fourth was leased from the local parish council - the county council will be able to achieve this with a capital expenditure of £187,000. It will then save £98,000 a year and the project will save this sum fromyear 3 onward. The libraries will still be in easily reached locations, will have much the same space available and will all be on the ground floor with street level access. Currently part of Buntingford Library is reached up a steep ramp and Sawbridgeworth is on two floors with only a staircase connecting the two.

These proposals are now going out to public consultation and an alternative proposal for Buntingford is also being considered. The final decision will be taken after the completion of these processes.

The Liberal Democrats are no strangers to projects like this. They run both Watford Borough and Three Rivers Distict and in Watford there is a first-class development of flats set above the fire station in the Lower High Street, while Three Rivers District Council has made space available within their council offices so that the local police to be located in the same building.

With this in mind and with the NHS seeking to dispose of the site of the Tring Clinic, Cllr Hollinghurst started thinking about possibilities in Tring and in Berkhamsted. In Tring the Ambulance Service, district nurses and social workers are using the Tring Fire Station offices on an informal basis. This suggests the possibility of an appropriate development of the Fire Station building to accomodate NHS, HCC and Ambulance staff and even clinics and consulting rooms in oreder to retain a base for NHS services within the town, both clinical and administrative.

Enhanced services could thus be provided at reduced cost.

In the same way the single storey premises currently housing the Tring and Berkhamsted Libraries could be rebuilt as improved library facilities offering a broader range of services. High quality accommodation above would finance the delivery of those improved public services at a lower cost and also provide affordable homes for the younger generation.

This would require co-operation between different agencies, but Watford and Three Rivers have shown the way. It should be achievable in Tring and Berkhamsted. After all public bodies have a duty to use and administer assets they hold on behalf of taxpayers to provide maximum benefit at greatest efficiency.