WIRRAL Council could look to sell one or even both of its town halls as it draws up plans for their future.
At a policy and resources committee meeting at Wallasey Town Hall on July 17, councillors are being asked to consider a report on both town halls, approve a move of council meetings back to Wallasey Town Hall, as well as move forward future work on the options for both Birkenhead and Wallasey Town Halls.
Wallasey Town Hall is now partially back up and running after being closed since autumn 2023 to make a saving as Wirral Council looked to make cuts to its budget. In February, it was proposed to be closed for another year but the local authority is now set to reverse that decision for the next year.
The council was planning to save £400,000 by keeping Wallasey closed until 2025 but this will now not be achieved. However, the local authority could decide to close Birkenhead Town Hall in the future to offset the lost saving.
According to a report brought before councillors, both town halls are “underused” and argued “It is not a good use of resources to retain two underused town halls.” While the council has built two new office buildings in Birkenhead, they are not built to host council meetings or civic activities.
The report suggests a range of options for councillors going forward which is either to keep both, sell off one, or sell both. The report suggests Birkenhead Town Hall is the favoured option for sale, a building the local authority previously put on the market in 2009,though this is subject to a councillor decision.
Looking at future uses, a consultant found Birkenhead was too small for a hotel conversion and challenging to be converted into an office but there was potential for “enhanced leisure use.” For Wallasey, it is too large to be converted but “it has opportunities around leisure uses.”
The report said: “It would be sensible and best value for money to retain only one of these assets, releasing the other to its future use and relieving the Council of the burden of maintaining an asset it does not have a need for,” adding: “If they were both retained the Council would need to find a use for both.”
Wallasey Town Hall is favoured due to its proximity to regeneration plans in the area which involved the demolition of its two annexes and is better able to host council meetings. The use of the Solar Campus to educate 15 pupils in September means licensing meetings will also be transferred back to Wallasey.
While the report said Birkenhead is better connected via public transport, Wallasey “offers better opportunities and more room to deliver, providing better solutions for issues like public and member safety.” This follows “some disruptive public behaviour” the council said put people at risk.
It also said choosing to put public facing offices outside of Birkenhead could signal the council is investing more widely in the borough and Wallasey Town Hall has more than enough space to host the Registrar service.
The council could also look to sell off both buildings. However this could cause issues as at least £3m would need to be found to hold meetings in the Mallory Building there while the Floral Pavilion isn’t considered a viable option.
Both buildings require a lot of work and money due to their age. Wallasey Town Hall needs £5.99m while Birkenhead Town Hall needs £3.373m over 15 years. Birkenhead will need £567,000 invested in a year while Wallasey Town Hall needs £149,000.
Replacing old heating and power systems as well as insulating both buildings is currently expected to cost £4m for Wallasey and £2m for Birkenhead. The review of both buildings is expected to cost £400,000.
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