Community asset status for former mental health hub

A former mental health centre is to be classed as a community asset following a successful bid to the city council.

Leeds City Council agreed to include the Stocks Hill Hub building in Armley among its list of Assets of Community Value (ACVs).

The Idarah Ansarul Hussain Cultural Centre charity applied for the right to take over the site on Chapel Lane.

The status means the organisation would be able to raise funds to buy the building if it was put up for sale.

A council report said: "In a diverse and growing community such as Armley, facilities like the Stocks Hill Hub are essential in bringing people together, reducing isolation, encouraging participation and improving the quality of life for local people."

The hub was closed as part of plans to reduce the number of sites offering the council's Day Opportunities service from six to three, saving £500,000.

As part of those plans, the council's Lovell Park hub would move to Wykebeck Complex Needs Centre, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Vales Circles in Beeston would join Laurel Bank Complex Needs Centre in Middleton.

Services provided at the Armley hub were moved to the Calverlands Complex Needs Centre in Horsforth following a decision in April.

The council report said the charity had said it intended to acquire the building.

It said: "They advise that the loss of the Stocks Hill Hub as a community facility would have a significant impact on Armley.

"Community buildings are increasingly scarce, and once they are lost to private or commercial development, opportunities for community use are difficult to replace."

ACV status means the sale of community buildings can be paused for six months while charities put together a bid to buy them.

The report added: "However, the landowner is free to dispose of the property at the end of the six-month period to whomsoever they see fit."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.