Councillors note plans to sell city mansion to care home provider

LEADERS AT Sheffield City Council have noted a report into a controversial plan to sell a disused 18th-century mansion to a care home provider.

Entrepreneurs Pennie Raven and Jonny Douglas had hoped to transform Mount Pleasant mansion in Sharrow Lane into a community development, and the decision to sell the premises was subsequently ‘called in’ by members.

The Heart of Sharrow project would have seen social enterprise Avenues to Zero take on the site on a 250-year lease, with the works funded by socially minded investors.

The council’s economic and environmental wellbeing scrutiny and policy development committee considered the call-in last month and interviewed cabinet member for finance Coun Olivia Blake, who had first proposed the site be sold to the Hermes Care group instead.

However, the committee is recommending that no action is taken in relation to the call-in decision. A meeting of Sheffield City Council’s cabinet heard that a meeting had now taken place with members of the Avenues of Zero project and that other avenues were being explored.

In February, a statement issued by Mr Douglas and Ms Raven said: “The purpose of this tender for the sale/disposal of Mount Pleasant was to select a preferred developer to work with to ensure the best use of this vital community and heritage asset, and we do not see how a care home for private profit over our ‘for the community’ scheme can be justified.”