The Council opened a new community centre (“Space 217”) serving the Lindsey Avenue area last year.
The initiative seemed to signal a welcome reversal of the current Council Leaderships policy of cutting all funding support from local community facilities.
However more information has become available which suggests that there is no ongoing business plan to support the facility.
At present all costs are being born by Council tenants (rent payments) through the housing account.
Ironically the two community centres most likely to close, as a result of Labour’s cut’s programme (Foxwood and Chapelfields), were also built on Housing Department owned land.
The Council says that it has had to spend around £31,000 bringing the former shop up to a standard that would allow it to be used as a community “hub”. This cost included the provision of disabled access and the removal of asbestos
The Council says that ongoing costs will also be paid for from within existing ring fenced “housing maintenance budgets”.
Strangely the Council is not offering financial support to other community centres from its housing maintenance budgets despite them being used by estate management officers, and other Council staff, as local meeting points.
NB. Lindsey Avenue is currently represented by Council Leader James Alexander. He will be under a lot of pressure if he is to retain his seat in next years local elections. The decision to open the new centre was taken behind closed doors.