What ways can underutilised CYC assets i.e. equipment, property, buildings and land, be exploited to benefit businesses, the community and the Council?


Challenge closes on Wednesday 15th February

Breathing life into Clementhorpe Maltings

There are some real challenges when dealing with the council’s property estate and some buildings and plots of land can lay disused for long periods of time. This can be for a variety of reasons and in some cases there may be no obvious solution to the problem.

This is an opportunity to contribute to the development and rejuvenation of an historic building in the centre of York. Clementhorpe Maltings is a grade II listed building, which is in need of redevelopment, but the constraints around the listing and some features of the building have made this difficult and as a consequence it has been disused for a number of years and it is in need of structural repair.

In terms of the development of proposals for this listed building, there is a blank sheet of paper, so get jamming!!!

Clementhorpe Maltings (see the image above) was built in the 19^th Century and was used as a Malt house (in a Malt house or Maltings cereal grain is soaked in water until is sprouts and is then dried to convert it to malt. It is used in the production of Beer, Whisky and food products) until the late 1950s. In the 1960s the building came into the possession of the council and was given a Grade II listed status in 2001.

See this link to the British listed buildings website http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-488287-clementhorpe-malt... for more details of the listing.

This has been a difficult building to reuse as it contains the Malting equipment, which is part of the listing, and on the ground floor has a low ceiling (around 5 feet). It has degenerated into a state of disrepair and requires structural attention, but it a well sealed building and is dry inside.

In terms of location it is sited located at St Bridget Court, York (YO23 1AU). This is close to the river and is close to the city centre and the historic city walls.

Getting the best value from our assets

City of York council has in its possession a rich array of buildings, land, highways, vehicles and equipment. Due to the operating hours of the council some of these assets are only utilised for part of the day, week or month. For example, typically a refuse vehicle is in operation for around 8-10 hours, some buildings such as libraries are only open or in use for around 24 hours in a week.

We would like to publicise and advertise our full range of assets with current operational usage (including when, where, etc) and provide a portal to allow community and business visibility into this range and input into extending the use of those assets and this challenge is to propose a solution. We also would like input into how these are presented and what different audiences would appreciate. Initial ideas include an inventory of sights for film companies and allowing the booking of assets for use outside operational hours.

A map based approach to asset presentation (Based upon the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, Crown Copyright.  Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. City of York Council, Licence No. 1000 20818)

Our assets at present are stored in several different databases and are accessible to varying degrees and to various levels of detail depending on their subject matter. We’re looking at proposals for integration and presentation and for a portal that will offer information and a range of services that allow the unlocking of the potential of these assets. This will then provide a method for continuously achieved maximum value and use from our assets. We are also looking innovative schemes that would utilise the assets that could be developed through the portal, such as community schemes that will benefit from the use of council owned equipment.