Poole civic centre saved from full sale after cabinet defeat

The Grade II listed building in Municipal Road was earmarked for sale after a review found the local authority forks out £19k every month for holding costs. 

But a successfully passed proposal by Mark Howell at a full council meeting on October 15 now means the building will not be sold in its entirety. 

Instead, the building will be split into a “vertical slice”, meaning part of the building is retained for public use and the other is sold off to a private buyer. 

Poole civic centre (Image: Newsquest)

Mike Cox, cabinet member for finance, disagreed with Cllr Howell's proposals, saying “this [now] won’t get sold” and the council will now have to continue paying £250k every year for it. 

He added: “We should use this site for the purposes for which we wanted to be done and that’s housing development and commercial use.” 

Senior officers have said that BCP Council has paid £2.5m in keeping the building since the merger of councils in 2019. The civic centre has been unoccupied since 2022.

Labour has been campaigning against the sale, insisting that once it’s sold it will be gone forever – adding that the space could be used for the mayor’s office or coroner’s court. 

Protesters outside Bournemouth town hall (Image: Poole Labour) Neil Duncan-Jordan, Labour MP for Poole, has been campaigning for the sale not to go ahead, or for the council to at least consult residents first.

He said: “This decision shows that local people recognise the importance of keeping public assets in the hands of local residents.  

“It’s regrettable that even some of the civic centre is going to be sold off, but this compromise at least keeps part of the building for public use rather than private profit.” 

Jake Ruggier, vice chair of Poole Labour and the lead campaigner on the ‘Save Poole Civic Centre’ movement, added that “common sense has prevailed”. 

He said: “Poole residents stood up for our town, signed petitions, protested outside the council building, urged councillors not to support the sale, and we succeeded. This is democracy in action.” 

Patrick Canavan, BCP Labour leader, said after the meeting that the Lib Dem-led administration “have simply not been listening to the strength of feeling”. 

He added: “We have said repeatedly that Poole residents deserve to have their say in what happens to this building and we will be making sure that their voice is heard.” 

In total, 35 councillors voted in favour of the vertical slice sale, including some cabinet members and Lib Dem councillors, and 26 voted in line with cabinet’s proposals to sell off the entire building.