Key Calderdale buildings and site drawn up to keep carrying on its duties

Against a tough financial background the council’s CAFM Asset Management Board, which oversees the council’s property portfolio, is drawing up a list of its core estate – mainly high priority buildings required as a bare minimum for the council to operate.

In part this is to allow Calderdale to prioritise which buildings and land it needs to keep in good repair, maintain and manage on a limited budget, allowing it to manage its portfolio efficiently.

The Corporate Asset and Facilities Management (CAFM) team have been one of the most successful in making savings for the council over the last half decade but still faces challenging savings targets.

Calderdale’s overall land and property asset list takes in around 1,700 sites and 474 buildings.

First phase improvements, which include re-configuring some of the council’s depots, establishing a service hub at Elland library and repair work at Todmorden Library have either been completed, are under way or will be finished by 2020-21.

The second phase, which includes more than 670 sites and 291 buildings, will see assets assessed with a report set to highlight initial options, with these reviewed and brought forward if necessary, councillors heard.

Chairing the board, Coun Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot), who has the Cabinet portfolio for Regeneration and Resources, said the council also had assets that sat under or on the highways – drains, fences and the like, and asked if there was no overlap with a list of those and the land and buildings listed.

Officers said there as some overlap, of about 17 sites.

Defining an asset list was complex – it also included memorials, for example, they added.

Coun Bryan Smith (Lab, Ovenden) asked which programme the new £1.1 million salt barn would be in.

Coun Scullion said said the barn was an important part of the council’s highways budget and a planning application was in process. It is expected to be ready for the winter of 2020.