By John Baron
Work on converting a stone Victorian semi-detached property in Horsforth into a £290,000 community hub is set to start early next month.
Councillors on Horsforth Town Council’s finance and general purposes committee last night heard work on the long-awaited facility, at 3 The Green, would start on Monday, 7 April.
The building, next to Horsforth Village Museum, will become a new community space with a large meeting and conference room on the ground floor which will have capacity for up to 80 people.
There will be a new kitchen and new toilet facilities, one of which will be a Changing Places room, for people with disabilities.
There will be a lift from the ground floor to the first floor which, as well a providing access to the new town council offices, will also be accessible for Horsforth Museum next door.
Councillor John Garvani (Broadfields ward) said work would take 12 weeks and he hoped the building would be up and running for the summer holidays.
“Things are starting to move,” he added.
Council leader Simon Dowling (Broadfields) said it was hoped events like community cafes and information days could be held in the new building.
Cllr Dowling said: “We hope this will be a facility for the community, by the community.”
Last night’s finance and general purposes committee meeting was held in Horsforth Museum. The agenda can be read here.
History
The pair of stone Victorian semi-detached properties started life as a gentleman’s house and a vicarage. The buildings have had several uses over the decades. One of them was once a pub.
The two buildings were knocked together and became the buildings for the former Horsforth Urban District Council. In 1974 the buildings were handed over to Leeds City Council for their use.
Number 5 is the home of the Village Museum, which leases the building from the Town Council, and number 3 is currently vacant.
The process to acquire the buildings took the Town Council longer than initially expected but in May 2022, the transfer of the three properties was completed.
Horsforth Town Council has taken out a loan in order to purchase the buildings and complete most of the internal modifications required, along with using Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding.
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