RADCLIFFE Town Hall is to be given away in a last-ditch gamble to save the landmark building.

Council chiefs have agreed to sell the 85-year-old building for just £1 so that it can be used to provide accommodation for the homeless.

But the deal is dependent on North British Housing Association getting the necessary funding to carry out the work.

Under the proposals put forward, the exterior of the town hall would be retained but the interior would be gutted and radically revamped to allow its use as residential accommodation for vulnerable, homeless people.

The council, which has been trying to ensure the survival of the premises for some time, has welcomed the idea. The future of the building has been in question since the town became part of the new Bury Metropolitan Borough in 1974.

The constant problem of the empty, vandal-ravaged building prompted the council to set a deadline of February, 1997, to find an alternative use for the building. If none were found it faced demolition.

But there was zero interest from the private sector and so the council is pinning its hopes on the scheme put forward by NBHA in conjunction with the Bury Young Persons Housing Link.

The council's land and economic development sub-committee approved the scheme on Tuesday night.

Committee chairman Coun Tony Isherwood said: "We have expressed our commitment for a number of years to try to do our utmost to ensure that the building is retained and doesn't fall under the demolition man's hammer. "Following consultations, the NBHA scheme looks to be the best bet for the building. We want to see Radcliffe Town Hall with a future that continues to make it part of the community."

Radcliffe Renewal Advisory Committee chairman Coun Kevin Scarlett said: "As a local authority we have made the retention of the town hall a top priority by putting the scheme at the head of our list for 1997/98. As a council we just do not have the funding available ourselves for a project of this size. Now we have got to the stage where a firm scheme has been put forward."

But he warned that the building would almost certainly be demolished if the Housing Corporation did not approve the necessary finance.

He said: "The building cannot be allowed to continue to deteriorate in the way that it has. The longer it stays up, the more it becomes a liability and a potential danger, especially for local children."

In 1991 the building was earmarked for demolition under a road improvement scheme, but it survived the threat.

Last year an independent consultant's report revealed it would cost £1 million to build new offices or housing on the site. Suggestions to turn it into a community heritage centre were thwarted by the £1.3 million cost and plans to have it listed as a building of special architectural/historic interest were rejected because it did not meet the necessary criteria.

In June, local businessman David Baxter, of Brooks Avenue, suggested it should be sold for £1 and transformed into a showpiece business centre.

Yesterday Coun Scarlett said:"We are optimistic that we have chosen the right scheme for the building and expect the Housing Corporation to make a decision early in the New Year. We will now just have to wait and see what happens."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.