THE Maltings Cottage on Ely riverside could be turned into a visitor centre or an ice cream parlour, it was suggested last week.

But whatever the future holds for the delapidated building, it should be used to serve the community, a meeting of local councils, organisations and businesses agreed.

The building - which had previously been earmarked for holiday lets - has been the topic of debate over its future over recent months, with many voices calling for a rethink of its role.

To discuss the building’s future, a round table meeting was organised by East Cambridgeshire District Council, including groups such as aDec, the Ely Perspective, the Ely Society, the Friends of Jubilee Gardens, Compass Group (who run the Maltings) and many others.

The meeting produced a number of ideas for the cottage from creating a visitor centre to an ice cream parlour, register office or an artist studio.

Officers from the council will now analyse a number of ideas, to see which could make the best use of the building for the city and the community.

Councillor Peter Moakes, Leader at East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “Ely’s Riverside is a wonderful part of our city offering peace and reflection, a place to play and the chance to socialise with family and friends. It would be a real shame not to make the most of this fantastic asset – this is why we are looking again at how to best use the Maltings Cottage for the benefit of the whole city.

“We had a fantastic meeting last week where we invited many groups, businesses and organisations to come and suggest ideas for the future of the cottage.

“Uppermost in everyone’s mind was the desire for it to be used for the benefit of the community. To this end, we heard some really interesting and innovative ideas which we are now going to investigate to see which are feasible and will meet our community aims.

“We will continue to update everyone on the progress of this work over the next few months and hope we can bring the cottage out of the shadows and make it a great reason to visit the Riverside.”

For more information please call 01353 665555 or logon to www.eastcambs.gov.uk.