The council owned library building, which was formerly the Upper Hunter Shire Council chambers and office building was sold by the council as purely an economic decision.

The new owner, a local business, will officially take over the building from September 1. 

The Scone Library and Scone Neighbourhood Centre will remain in the building under a two by two year lease agreement between the council and the private purchaser, with council as the lead tenant. 

The community user groups that currently hire rooms off the Scone Neighbourhood Centre to operate organisations or groups will no longer have access to the space as of August 31. 

The new owners plan to use the opposite side of the building to the library for business purposes following construction modifications set to take place in early September. 

Due to the premise’s classification as operational land, the council was not required under the Local Government Act to consult with the community about the sale and it was not required to go to                tender. 

Although the council was not looking to sell the property at the time they were approached by the purchaser, councillors as custodians of the assets undertook a due diligence process, which looked at the future maintenance required on the building, the valuation and the return on investment and based on these and other factors decided to accept the offer.

The sale could be one of many, as the council is planning to sell off other unused or underperforming assets to balance the required ratios in the Fit for the Future scheme. 

According to Upper Hunter Shire mayor Wayne Bedggood the sale of the building will effectively level the operating performance ratio, however there are potentially more assets that the council could sell in the future after a review has been undertaken. 

“As part of council’s improvement plan for the Fit for the Future program we need to undertake a complete assessment of all council assets, buildings and land. 

“A full analysis will be undertaken to understand what we have first and what may be surplus to requirements,” Cr Bedggood said. 

“No decision on selling any other assets has been considered or made at this point in time.”

He said the building was sold for a price well above the value of the land, therefore the council were very keen to move forward with the business transaction. 

Although Cr Bedggood said a lot of time has been spent deliberating over the transaction, due to the commercial in  confidence nature of the deal, the council wasn’t at liberty to put it out in the public arena. 

Cr Bedggood also said that if there are any community groups utilising the current facility, which need assistance to find appropriate alternative accommodation, then they should contact the council and they will be able to assist them, including utilising the council administration building.