Well that is simply not true.
Cllr Gareth Molineux said, "When I was elected in 2011 it seemed that there was no real responsibility being taken for the building. The former chairperson had become very unwell and due to his age was unable to continue in his role. Mr Holt had served the senior citizens for fantastically for decades. However due to poor record keeping and keys being readily handed out for the building something had to be done.
"Hyndburn Council wanted to formalise the arrangement in the same way has it had with other community buildings in its ownership as the day to day booking of rooms and hire charges and income was being kept by the committee but the maintenance of the building and the running costs totalling over £17,000 per annum was being paid for by HBC."
The committee refused to sign the same agreement that Hippings Vale (Oswaldtwistle) had signed a few years before and over a period of 4 years the Council made a number of concessions at the request of the committee.
After 4 years it became clear that no agreement could be made as the committee wanted full use of the building and to keep the income but was not prepared to take on any responsibilty of the overall upkeep of the building.
The Council had been approached by organisations such as Great Harwood Civic Society who had formed a charity to take on buildings through a leasing scheme. Other buildings include Hippings Vale Community Centre, the Civic Theatre in Oswaldtwistle to name but two.
Bank Mill House is the last such building that is not in community hands.
Cllr Molineux said, "The Committee were reluctant to move forward and all of them had concerns regarding the legal and business implications. I made them the offer that Hyndburn Council would fund them taking both independent Legal and Business advice through a provider of there choice, to set their minds at ease and to give them a greater understanding of what was involved. The Committee refused this funding, and to my understanding have taken no formal advice."
At this point Hyndburn Leisure had come forward with a proposal that grants the committee and the senior citizens of the town the same use rights has they have now with the same terms. They have also offered to protect current bookings and honour the community group's current usage.
This agreement does not involve Hyndburn Council selling Bank Mill House.
It will be leased to Hyndburn Leisure and funded by Hyndburn Leisure.
The Senior Citizens are NOT losing their centre.
No comments:
Post a Comment