- Courtyard of Agricultural buildings on the Stanmer Estate would be restored and renovated under £2.35m Conservative proposal
- Renovation plans would open up new community spaces, workshops, office space and retail
- Proposals form part of Conservatives’ budget plans to prioritise city’s heritage.
The Conservatives will propose major capital investment to fund the restoration of Stanmer Park’s historic agricultural buildings at the City Budget meeting this week.
Under the Conservatives’ budget amendments, £2.35 million would be redirected to bring to fruition a long-standing Council plan to restore the historic courtyard of traditional agricultural buildings on the Stanmer Estate.
The restoration would bring the grade listed buildings back to life, repurposing them for a range of uses including community spaces, workshops, office space and retail.
The Stanmer Park plan forms part of the Conservatives’ 2022-3 Budget focus on restoring the City’s heritage, which also includes allocating £16.19 million to complete the project funding required for the full restoration of Madeira Terraces.
Conservative Group Deputy Leader Robert Nemeth said that Stanmer residents wanted to see this heritage project proceed.
“The Agricultural buildings at Stanmer represents another grade listed heritage asset in our City that is currently sitting on the heritage at risk register, having been left alone for too long.
“Much like the Madeira Terraces, plans have been around for some time to restore the buildings, but allocating the funding has not been prioritised by the Administration.
“The Conservatives want to see the City’s grade listed assets restored as a priority. This is not only important for our heritage, but also provides a major opportunity for the community and tourism economy, opening up spaces for new uses.
“The Stanmer Park Estate, which is been in Council hands since 1947, is a special place for local residents and the residents of the City as a whole.
“I hope all Councillors will get behind these plans on Budget night” Cllr Nemeth added.
Conservative Group Finance Spokesperson Joe Miller said that funding could be found through sensible savings in the budget.
“Residents want to see funding spent on practical measures that will have an impact on the ground” Cllr Miller said.
“The Greens’ endless obsession with spending taxpayer’s money commissioning transport studies about more cycle lanes causes division in the City and doesn’t deliver residents’ priorities.
“This amendment would see the funding redirected to a positive project that would create jobs, boost the economy, restore our heritage and unite the city.
“Like our plan to fully fund the Madeira Terraces restoration, this amendment shows that it is possible to restore our city’s heritage; it just requires Councillors to make it a priority and vote for it” Cllr Miller added.
Conservative Group Amendment 4
- £0.036m pa to fund £0.750m capital investment in Stanmer Park Traditional Agricultural buildings renovation and road improvements in 2022/23
- £0.076m pa to fund £1.600m capital investment in Stanmer Park Traditional Agricultural buildings renovation and road improvements in 2023/24
The above proposals will be funded by redirecting funding for the proposed development of a city-wide Strategic Transport Model shown in table 2 on page 20 of the agenda from the capital allocations for the Carbon Neutral 2030 fund over 2022/23 and 2023/24 which releases £0.076m in 2022/23 and a further £0.076m in 2023/24.
ENDS.
