Nunhead Community Centre - The Fight Goes On!
Much of my time over the last month or so has been focused on the future of the Nunhead Community Centre.
The council closed the centre about 2 years ago after one of the residents who ran the centre contracted legionnaires disease (maybe from the centre, maybe not). We expected it to reopen after the water systems had been given the all clear.
Instead the council said it couldn't reopen without some quite substantial work done to it. An initial surveyors report said £300k - so we set to the task of securing the funding.
Line Dancing in the last Older People's Day - before the centre closed!Up till a few weeks ago it was looking quite promising. Both the council officers and the LibDems councillors running the council said they supported reopening the centre and we'd raised £150k from the small Nunhead & Peckham Rye Community Council budget. I was hopeful that Southwark Council would match fund the rest.
But shockingly in the last few weeks the council has completely changed its tune. They say it will cost at least £1.2m to reopen the centre and that the running costs will be completely unaffordable. They say they is would be a waste of money and they won't do it.
Instead they offered us some shop fronts in the new building next to the Nun's Head. They said they wanted to buy 2 shops for use as community space and sell off the old centre.
We gave it a chance. I went to see the shops with my fellow cllrs and a number of people who run local community groups and the simple truth is that the rooms are just too small. It's just a totally inadequate alternative to the centre.
We had a well attended meeting of local residents last week where we resolved to reject the council's offer and to keep on fighting for to get our centre back.
Local residents say Nunhead Wants its Centre BackThe Community Centre was a lifeline for so many people in Nunhead - particularly the large elderly population. Groups like the Sunshine Club for pensioners have had to stop meeting - they just can't find anywhere else big and affordable enough in the area for their group of 60+ people to meet. But it seems they just aren't a priority for this Council.
A well-attended Community Forum AGM - before the centre closedI find it simply impossible to understand how the costs could have quadrupled in just two years. With the first surveyors report we were given a full breakdown of the work needed and cost estimates - but this time the council is refusing to give us any details at all, which makes me, and everyone else, deeply sceptical as well as really angry about the whole thing.
Read more in the Southwark News.
posted by Fiona on Friday, May 01, 2009
6 comments
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6 Comments:
Would like to see a copy of the first surveyors report.
It sure sounds odd that Southwark Council want to "Keep Mum" about the latest findings.
Rob
Has the council applied to change the community designation of the land/centre ?
No - I get a list of new planning applications every week which I diligently check so definitely not.
has the centers water system had the all clear?
is it still an issue?
As I understand it yes - that's the one piece of work that has been done.
Clearly we'd want it checked again before any reopening to be absolutely sure.
The council simply does not understand what a community is.
Perhaps the council should do its homework on the history of the borough it claims to manage.
"If you belonged to the Centre, you always had lots of friends."
"You use the word 'community'; the Centre needs a much warmer word than that; we did feel mutually responsible for each other. The Centre became an extension or our home - "
http://www.thephf.org/familiesetc.html
And pay regard to modern evidence and expert opinion.
The Community Development Foundation http://www.cdf.org.uk/ is clear, and all responsible authorities are agreed:.
"Community spaces benefit local people and community groups in
many ways.They offer safe spaces for interaction between people
from different backgrounds and provide information about local
services and learning opportunities. Community spaces could be physical or virtual; all-inclusive or serving a particular section of the community. All of these are important. Support for new and existing community spaces needs to be available to maximise their benefits.
● Central and local government need to support affordable and accessible
community spaces that are fit for purpose within local communities.
● Local councils and second tier voluntary sector organisations could further
support the development of community spaces by offering room and venue hire to community groups at subsidised rates or free of charge..."
It goes on.
http://www.cdf.org.uk/SITE/UPLOAD/DOCUMENT/Projects/comspac.pdf
If the council did pay more attention to the human needs of its residents, it would not spend £30,000+ destroying a multi-purpose, well used community square in Juniper House, and replacing it with an ornamental garden which now nobody uses, meanwhile blocking all attempts to create a desperately needed community centre on derelict land.
Communities need a centre.
http://amjamjazz.googlepages.com/home
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