Monastery offered for sale to community for £1

Campaigners who were looking to turn a former monastery into a community centre have been offered the chance to buy the building for £1.

Torbay Council announced a proposal to support the campaign by offering the building on Paignton's Berry Drive to the campaign for the negligible sum.

The Marist Order paid £6,000 for the building when it was new in 1881, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The monastery, which has also been used as a social club and a food bank since the monks left town 50 years ago, has been on a list of council assets for sale since 2019.

It has previously been offered to the community but there were no takers.

In recent months Liberal Democrat councillors Cat Johns and Margaret Douglas-Dunbar, who represent the Clifton with Maidenway wards in which the monastery sits, led a fresh campaign to have it remain in community hands.

They said the area had no community centre and the former home of the Marist Fathers would be ideal for that purpose.

The council said surplus assets which are no longer needed were identified for disposal, which helped pay for reinvestment elsewhere.

It said the community could have the monastery for £1, but must form a legal entity to do so and a deal must be done by the end of March 2026.

Only community-based operations would be permitted, and if its use changes and its value increases, any "uplift" would go back to the council, the council said.

It said the new proposal gave the community every opportunity to bring the monastery back into beneficial use, while relieving the council of future maintenance liabilities.

Councillor Jackie Thomas, cabinet member for events, tourism, culture and corporate services, said: "We are creating a real opportunity for residents to take ownership of a historic site and bring it back into beneficial use.

"I am encouraged by the enthusiasm already shown and look forward to seeing how the community can transform the Old Monastery into a vibrant hub that serves local needs."

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