Agenda item

Ann Habens, Director Safer & Stronger Communities will be present to provide an update on Manor House Neighbourhood Centre.

Ann Habens, Director Safer & Stronger Communities and Steve Goddard, Head of Community Services were present to answer any queries relating to Manor House Neighbourhood Centre.

Ann reported that no decision had yet been made on the centre and services were currently being looked at in the area. Work was currently being done with Children and Young People’s services regarding services provided in the area. Ann commented that services needed to be looked at as a whole rather than particular buildings. The Community Meeting were informed that Manor House was a grade two listed building with the usage of the building being very limited and the cost per user being very high.

The Chair stated that the three Ward Councillors had written to the Leader and relevant Cabinet Member regarding the closure.

Ann stated that the City Council wished to hold consultations with service users particularly those with group leaders whose services had been relocated.

A resident stated that he was organising a campaign to save the centre and he was looking to organise a petition. He commented that there should be a public meeting in the area about the closure and that he felt that the venue had not been publicised in the last year. He stated that he was looking to work with Council Officers and that possible sponsorship for the centre was also currently being looked into. It was reiterated that the venue was a community facility and healthy for the area.

Ann explained the costs for the Manor House and how many people had attended the venue in the last year. It was reported that there had been 12,106 people who had used the venue which equated to a cost of £9.90 per user. The venue had fewer users than other similar centres such as Fosse Centre and the Tudor Centre. Residents raised concern that the fewer visitors were due to the venue not being publicised. Ann informed the Community Meeting that the building required continual investment and health and safety regulations had to be adhered to.

The Community Meeting was informed that the pre school and after schools groups had been relocated to the local school site. Ann commented that the local community would be spoken to about which services they wanted. Residents also raised concern that they were not notified that the land around the centre belonged to Ellesmere School. 

It was queried why the issue of building had only arisen after the recent incident had occurred. Ann commented that the building was being looked into before the incident. She also commented that following the incident it was difficult for the staff to work in the building again due to the incident that had occurred.

It was queried whether Council Staff had been using the upstairs space as offices. Ann commented that the centre was used by staff as Offices otherwise it would have stood empty. The Community Meeting was informed that the building did not lend itself for community usage as easy as some of the other City Council buildings. A resident raised concern that the City Council had not invested in the building and it was their responsibility to make sure that the building was usable.

A Member stated that it was important that there was a facility for the Rowley Fields community.  The Chair stated that a meeting would be arranged to get the community view and that it was important that there was a meeting before the consultation process.

It was queried why the facilities at St Mary’s School couldn’t be used. The Chair stated that the facilities available were too small. It was further queried when the consultation would take place. Ann commented that it was likely to take place during July/August 2010.

A resident queried whether the usage statistics were available. It was agreed these should be distributed with minutes. Ann commented that all services at the centre had been relocated apart from a lunch club which had been cancelled.

The Chair thanked Ann and Steve for their attendance.