Bid to remove hall extensions

A grant of £100,000 is being sought towards work to remove the part-finished extensions at Ollerton Hall.

Newark and Sherwood District Council, which is considering buying back the hall, could use the money to return it to a state where a new renovation could start.

Pullan Developments stopped work on the derelict building two years ago in a dispute over the type of materials to be used.

The developer bought the hall, which had been empty for many years, from the council for £650,000 in 2007. The sale contained a buy-back clause for the council.

The £100,000 grant would come from the remaining money to be allocated from the now defunct group of local authorities and organisations known as the Nottinghamshire Partnership.

There is £375,600 left to spend on community projects in Newark and Sherwood.

The local strategic partnership, made up of organisations working together in the district, will have to approve the grant.

A report to the council’s cabinet said the council was considering the option to buy back the hall and remove the unsightly extensions so a more appropriate renovation scheme could be brought forward.

It said there were significant unfunded costs involved in bringing the scheme back to that point and the £100,000 grant would help.