Empty building with its own Cold War nuclear bunker among six set to be sold by council

East Riding Council’s cabinet agreed to sell the Skirlaugh offices and five Beverley buildings including a registrars and small business centre at a meeting on Tuesday (Mar 19).

A report to the cabinet stated they had been deemed surplus to requirements, with services based in four of the Beverley buildings set to be relocated.

Council Coastal Portfolio Holder Coun Barbara Jefferson said the council needed to get on with getting rid of derelict and untidy properties including the one at Skirlaugh. The Skirlaugh Offices were once home to Holderness District Council’s Emergency Centre.

It was built in 1989 in the final years of the Cold War but it was closed after the fall of the Soviet Union while Holderness District Council itself was abolished in 1996. The building has since housed East Riding Council’s reserve archive but it is has now been vacated. The cabinet heard that it is set to be put on the market.

James Timm, of the council’s assets department, said that it is expected to take longer than the others to sell.

The other buildings set to be sold are Beverley’s Cross Street Customer Services Centre, Walkergate House, Manor Road, the Small Business Centre and 65 and 71 Keldgate.

Services in Cross Street and the registrars in Walkergate House are set to move to Beverley’s Treasure House which is set for a major refurbishment. The Manor Road offices are being closed due to more council functions being brought into County Hall.

Beverley’s Small Business Centre is set to move to the town’s new Enterprise Centre and the council has already received offers for the building. The Kelgate sites consist of vacant land and an empty residential property which have planning approval for supported living accommodation, with both set to be sold.

Council Children’s Services Portfolio Holder Coun Victoria Aitken said the properties had been looked at for possible use as accommodation but they were deemed unsuitable.

Coun Jefferson said: “Some of the properties are looking derelict, the car park at the Skirlaugh offices is untidy. We need to get on and do this.”