Neighbours and councillors are furious after plans to close Norfolk’s “treasured” base of adult education were revealed.
Wensum Lodge, on King’s Street in Norwich, has been the home of adult learning for more than four decades but is now under threat of being sold off.
Plans to close the centre - which runs courses in subjects like English and maths, as well as silversmithing, pottery and others - were disclosed in documents going before Norfolk County Council’s (NCC) Conservative-controlled cabinet in July.
The move has drawn the anger of councillors and people living in the area, who are calling for the authority to reverse their plans.
But NCC officials argue the service can be better delivered elsewhere and the site is “increasingly cost inefficient”.
It comes as the authority is battling a £42.6m black hole in its budget.
Ben Price, city and county councillor for the Thorpe Hamlet - which covers the King Street area – said it was devastating news and that the “treasured” site must be protected.
He said: “The county council’s programme of selling off community assets like Wensum Lodge is incredibly short-sighted.
“The damage it will cause to the local community and the lost opportunity to help grow the economic and cultural offering in Norwich is incalculable.
“We can still save Wensum Lodge. Green councillors are urging people to sign the petition to retain Wensum Lodge."
Instead of selling off the building, Mr Price called for the council to bring back earlier proposals to turn the site into a 'cultural hub', which would support small creative and arts organisations.
The petition is available at actionnetwork.org/petitions/saving-wensum-lodge-to-be-a-creative-hub
Local groups are also investigating whether they can apply to make the building an asset of community value, which would give locals more say in any sell-off.
The county council has argued the site is no longer needed because it is increasingly delivering courses online and at other community locations.
A report to NCC’s cabinet said: “With further plans to increase community-based delivery, having a large single building (Wensum Lodge) in Norwich no longer fits with our vision for the service.
“Wensum Lodge was the largest, most appropriate building for courses when it was set up, but it is now obvious that it no longer provides the sort of accommodation our courses need and that it is time to move out altogether.”
Courses will continue to be delivered at the centre until the end of the year.
The plans would not affect the neighbouring Wensum Sports Centre.
Steve Morphew, leader of the Labour group, has also pledged to fight the plans, calling the centre a “city and county icon”.
He said: “We’ve been waiting ages for plans to see it developed as a centre for arts and education given its central location, reputation, historic value and place in the heart of the city.
“To hear it is instead proposed to hollow it out and asset strip is sheer vandalism. We’ve seen this before – smoke and mirrors to break up the provision, pretend it is being spread more widely but actually impose cuts and sell off our heritage. Not this time, not without a fight for the city’s legacy.”
Sarah French a member of the community group King Street Neighbours, said: "We will not let a valuable asset like Wensum Lodge be sold for development.
“The council will have a fight on their hands if they decide to go ahead."
Supporting the plan, Margaret Dewsbury, cabinet member for communities said: “With further plans to increase community-based delivery, having a large single headquarters-style building at Wensum Lodge in Norwich no longer fits with our vision for the service.
“It is now obvious that it no longer provides the sort of accommodation our courses need and that it is time to move out altogether.”
HISTORY OF THE SITE
The complex of buildings, off King Street, include the Music House, which dates from the 12th century.
In the 1960s it was converted into an adult education centre by Norfolk County Council, with a sports hall built on the site at the same time.
As well as sports like badminton and squash, that hall even once boasted a ski slope - made of plastic ski matting, scaffold poles and wooden boxes.
That sports hall was closed in December 2010 after the county council claimed maintenance costs were too expensive to keep it open.
But it was saved after a campaign group formed to take it over and the Wensum Sports Centre Charitable Association continues to run it today.
Meanwhile, adult education courses continue at Wensum Lodge, although the popular Jurnet's Bar, situated in a medieval crypt, closed in 2020.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here