Dreams for Dewsbury Park Mansion transformation are dashed

The group who had been trying to develop the plans say they are devastated at having to cancel the project.

The Dewsbury Museum closed in December 2016 due to council funding cuts, and the Dewsbury Park Mansion Community Hub was formed later that year with the aim of taking over the mansion house for use as a community hub.

Gill Young, secretary of the Dewsbury Park Mansion Community Hub committee, said: “The directors have reluctantly decided that they would withdraw their application because of lack of pro-active support from Kirklees Council, lack of consistent communication and fundamental changes in the funding opportunities for heritage buildings.

“The committee is devastated after three years of hard work to save the Mansion, including its café – a well-loved facility for park visitors, dog walkers, families, Parkrunners and many others – that we have to make this decision.
“It has taken hundreds of volunteer hours and tireless effort to try and make it a community hub.
“When Kirklees Council decided to close the Museum in the Mansion building in 2016, there was considerable community reaction against the decision.
“Meetings were held and it was agreed that the potential loss of an iconic building, and the needs of the local people could be harnessed into a project to turn the building into a community hub. The ward Councillors were, they said, all in favour of this.
“A small group of volunteers started planning what was needed to make this succeed. A request for the asset transfer was made to the Council and accepted.
“The group formed itself into a cooperative in order to take the legal responsibility of such a development. Meetings with Kirklees Council officers were organised.
“The business plan for the operation was presented to the Council within the short deadline requested.

“For their part, the Council installed Guardians in the building as a positive alternative to leaving it empty. However, except for emergency repairs, no work was done in the building and its condition has further deteriorated since the state of the Condition Survey (bought in by the group) of 2018.
“Many meetings with various and different Council Officers were held. However, with a proposal that broke the mould of other asset transfers as it offered a completely new use for the building, real action and support seemed to be lacking.
“During this period, the funding opportunities have substantially changed for building such as the Mansion. This means that acquiring funds for the renovation and adaptation of the building is unlikely.
“Having received funding from the Architectural Heritage Fund to obtain resources to assess the viability of the project, we are drafting our report to them. Given the evidence we have, the project is not viable. A frustrated group of volunteers can no longer battle against the passive resistance and lack of actual help that would make our objectives real.”

A Kirklees Council spokesperson said: “We are also disappointed that this transfer is no longer going ahead. We’ve worked hard to try and deliver this project over the past three years.
“Due to its size, location and listed status, Dewsbury Park Mansion was the most ambitious and difficult transfer we have had to date.
“Local volunteers are crucial to our communities and since 2013 we have supported and successfully transferred 21 assets to community organisations across Kirklees. This has put power directly in the hands of local communities and ensured that local assets and services delivered from them meet the needs of residents.
“We will now consider the best way forward to deliver a future for the building and bring it back into use.”