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   Salford council respond over city's court
A delegation from Salford Council will take to London next month to try to save Salford's courts. The city council is calling for the Grade II listed building at Bexley Square to be repaired and remodelled to become home to Salford’s magistrates and county court. Her Majesty’s Court Service says the court is not busy enough and has proposed that all magistrates’ hearings be moved to the Manchester court buildings, including county court hearings. But in its formal response to the proposal, the city council says this would create the largest magistrates’ court in the country with around 550 magistrates and six district judges. The council’s submission says the HMCS business case is based on out-of-date figures and it would actually cost less to overhaul the Salford building and consolidate the city’s court work there than it would to vacate Bexley Square. It adds: “There has been a court in the city for 1,000 years, is busier than 90 per cent of the courts on the “at risk” list and is busier than many courts not on that list both in the North West and beyond. “A listed building cannot just be abandoned; there are costs associated with leaving it unoccupied. The consolidation and continued operation of the court service from Bexley Square as proposed could reduce HMCS’ running costs by some 57 per cent annually.” The city council says its proposal is backed by the community and key partners such as magistrates and probation and youth offending services. Under their plan, the building would be repaired and all the court work carried out in one section. This would free up other parts of the building for other uses which could raise income from rents, paying for running costs and the cost of repair. Previous estimates have said repair costs could top £3.5 million but these were not based on a formal survey, says the city council. Council deputy leader, and lead member for community safety, Cllr Dave Lancaster said: “This is not just us saying we want to keep a 1,000-year-old tradition or that we don’t want to become the only city in the country without its own magistrate’s court. “We are saying keeping the court in Salford is better for the administration of local justice and better for the taxpayer’s purse. “In the current economic climate, we can’t realistically expect a new court building in Eccles and this is the next best option for the city.” A delegation from the city will formally present the submission to Parliamentary Under Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Jonathan Djanogly, on September 6. Photo: Salford Magistrates court in the refurbished Bexley Square Source: Salford City Council Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
