Why was the County Council in such a rush to offload the Library to an unknown bidder who made an unconditional offer willing to buy within 30 days?

The Mill Road Library is not fit to be used as-is. There is damp, with some estimates that the walls will take another two years to dry out fully. There is no heating installed nor connected. There are no toilets in the building and mains services are not connected. There is no soundproofing to protect local residents from any noise from events, and the building cannot receive significant numbers of visitors without creating an additional emergency fire exit point, which will require knocking through a wall of a Grade II listed building to do so. There is no space for parking and indeed no external space beyond the building's footprint, insufficient ventilation ,and myriad challenges and maintenance required year on year. Solving any of these challenges requires significant thought from experts, and officers alike, input from the City Council and an understanding that the costs to put the building to use run to the millions. 

The County Council's press release (https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/news/mill-road-library-set-for-bright-artistic-future seems oblivious to the discussion within the Assets & Procurement Committee. In the meeting it was well noted by councillors that it remains a waste to leave this magnificent building vacant, as they have done for years, yet to sell quickly to an unknown cash buyer simply pushes these issues onto others. We look forward to seeing the name of the buyer, their substantive plans for addressing all the issues [with the building] to show that the sale has been sufficiently thought through and that the above technical problems have been discussed with the potential buyer.  

We ask that the County ensures community use is enshrined in the heads of terms and covenants in any negotiation and, as requested in the committee meeting, that no profit is taken from this community asset. We also ask why the County didn't follow its own Land and Property Strategy 2024-29    https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/asset-library/Land-and-Property-Strategy-2024-to-2029.pdf in which it says that it “Will support Community Asset Transfer where it delivers the best outcomes” (diagram on p15), and commits to “supporting communities by listening to our residents….. (p17).