Council approves £380k flats plan

Shireoaks Enterprise Centre, on Shire Oaks Court, is owned by Mansfield District Council and consists of two office blocks and two disused garages.

The building off Bellamy Road consists of two blocks which originally were used as apartments.

Since 2004 the two blocks were leased to the Sherwood Coalfield Development Trust which subsequently changed its name to Greenbox Trust Ltd. The lease end date was March 24 20025.

The trust paid for the conversion of the apartments into offices.

The lease was terminated by way of surrender and the property was handed back on August 16 20017.

The council’s design services have now prepared a scheme to convert the properties back into one-bed apartments to be let by Landlord services at an affordable rent.

Mansfield mayor Kate Allsop said; “We have people in our community who would be more than happy to have a one bedroom apartment.

“I went on the trust as a representative of the council.

“It was set up to help with unemployment in the Bellamy Road area . it was a shame it did not work out . The council has only just got the rooms back and we have started straight away . It is really pleasing to see we are getting them back to residential use.”

A full council meeting At Mansfield District Council offices on Wednesday heard the only other option would be to lease them as offices or to demolish them.

Councillors were told there is currently just over £167,000 of section 106 funding available to provide affordable housing. It is proposed that 106,000 is allocated to the Shireoaks conversion scheme.

Additionally the council’s development manager will submit abid for grant funding to the Homes and Communities Agency under the Shared Ownrship and affordable homes programme.