DEVON County Council has made an offer to Ottery St Mary Town Council to purchase a redundant office building and transform it into a community hub.
The county authority has offered its St Saviour's building to the town council at a price below market value, but councillors have a string of concerns about the terms and are now writing to county officials.
Ottery was recently dealt the blow by the county council that it's youth centre would close, and that its library was under consultation.
In addition, under NHS budget cut measures, the town is set to lose its hospital beds and Minor Injuries Unit.
In response to the raft of proposed cuts to public services, the town council has been working with residents to secure the future use of the St Saviour's building for community use.
Responding to an invitation from the county authority, with the help of community groups, the town council put together a bid which set out a wide range of possibilities for the building, which would also house a library.
But, though welcoming the offer, town mayor, Councillor Glyn Dobson said that a "sensible" agreement still needed to be reached.
"We put in a really strong case for having a new community resource in our expanding town, and I know that the county council was most impressed," he said.
"We know that they want to move the library there, so it seems to us to be a win-win for the town and for the county."
The town council's working group included representatives of Recycling in Ottery (RIO) and the Friends' of Ottery Library (FOOL) as well as town, district and county councillors. And local business helped in publishing the brochure that accompanied the bid.
Cllr Dobson, added "We have just received the county's proposals for the transfer.
"I have to say that councillors expressed disappointment with the draft offer, so we will now meet with the county to try and reach a sensible agreement.
"We want the opportunities it will give us – but the deal must be realistic."
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