Wirral mulls sale of Birkenhead and Wallasey town halls
A review of the council’s estate has found that the cost of maintaining the listed civic buildings would amount to £35m over the next 50 years.
Wirral Council is due to launch a market testing exercise to assess the appetite for the opportunity to acquire Birkenhead and Wallasey town halls.
It follows a “detailed review of the local authority’s assets” as part of efforts to improve the management of its estate.
The review found that the bill for repairs and maintenance across the buildings would be around £700,000 annually.
Any final decision on whether to dispose of the buildings would have to be approved by full council.
Birkenhead is located on Hamilton Square, is grade two-star listed, and opened in the 1880s. Wallasey town hall is on Brighton Street, is grade two-star listed and opened in the 1910s.
Wirral keeps going through the motions on this, but there really isn’t a realistic commercial use that would deliver any return and cover refurbishment/maintainence costs.
Particularly in the case of Wallasey, which is spectacular, recently upgraded to Grade II* Listed, but not in a great location and in need of major work, it’s hard to see any viable alternative use, which isn’t to say that WMBC shouldn’t be doing what many other councils seem to manage and making as much as possible from weddings and events.
It’s also poor that two of the best public buildings on the Wirral could go in a fire sale just because the current council is a shambles.
By Town Clerk
How can this council possibly think the public will allow them to sell such iconic buildings, also the fact that they are Grade II Listed Buildings it’s about time this council started using some common sense, get rid of the Vue cinema ( which was purchased with our council tax), which we the public were not consulted on, and I’m quite sure there are other purchases which we the public have no idea about. This council should be ashamed in the state of the pavement’s in and around Wallasey, also what has happened to the funding allocated for liscard? Did that just disintegrate because apart from a couple of new benches (which were really not needed) we the public have seen nothing else as regards to the regrowth of liscard!! Why can’t this council just take responsibility for their actions and mistakes and at least TRY to be honest.
By Anonymous
Our history ,our heritage, would be interested to see the cost per year to maintain the new buildings .Are we trying to become like Milton Keynes
By Andy-mac
This is terrible.
By Anonymous
Terrible selling our town halls because they are in the red, to save their own skins. They will still be in the red even of they sell. Selling them is only a short term fix. They should not sell our town halls.
By Anonymous
Wirral cannot sustain any more destruction.The council are considering selling a huge tranch to Peak Cluster for the pipeline no-one wants,and now the two Town Halls are possibly being put up for sale,to save the faces of this failing council.What a mess!!!!!
By Helen
Please keep them.They are beautiful buildings & have served wallasey well.
By Lizz
Should not be getting rid of our heritage
By Sue Gordan
I love that they publicise the extreme running costs, great salemanship, I’m sure they will be queueing up.
By Anonymous
If the council intend to sell Birkenhead Town Hall they may want to remove the homeless village that has grown up around the town hall steps. The surrounding area is used as an open air toilet.
By Wirral Resident
How can the council even consider doing this. Surely it makes more economic sense to keep them but make far more commercial use of them. Wallasey town hall is by far the grandest and most dominant building you see on the Wirral side when you sail up the River Mersey and it has just amazing views of the Liverpool side and also steps that lead down to the waterfront. Why on earth doesn’t the council make more of it tourism wise. Likewise Birkenhead town hall in Hamilton Square, a really amazing building in a prime location for yes…..tourism. The council should not be selling off ‘the family silver’!
By Brendan R
Launch a ‘go fund me’ style thing – get the local footballers, retirees, and (presumably) well paid council ‘executives’ to pony up the cash; worked in the 19th century – helps reinforce the fact that these are public assets and not ‘council property’ too.
By John Smith