Agenda item

To receive an update on progress in delivering the new Loves Farm Community Building.

(Councillors R B Howe, Executive Councillor for Healthy and Active Communities, and B S Chapman, elected Member for St Neots Priory Park, were in attendance for this item).

Councillor R B Howe, Executive Councillor for Healthy and Active Communities, addressed the Panel on the development of the Loves Farm Community Centre. He also referred to a number of the issues that the project had faced. A report on progress had been included on the Agenda (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book). Members were informed that an agreement had been made with Cambridgeshire County Council for the provision of a combined Community Building and a pre-school playgroup facility.

As part of the presentation, Members were provided with details of the site for the facility together with the proposed elevations and floor plans. Having been acquainted with the financial position of the original scheme, it was reported that £56K had been spent by the District Council on the initial proposal. Members were informed that the County Council would contribute £670K to the amended scheme. Attention was then drawn to the timetable for the completion of the facility, the next steps and the lessons which had been learnt from the exercise to-date.

Councillor B S Chapman, a local Member for Priory Park, thanked the Executive Councillor for drawing this project to a near conclusion. He stated that it would be an essential facility for the local community and the local Community Group, which would be managing the building, was keen to start running it. He expressed his appreciation of the County Council’s financial contribution.

The Panel discussed the financial resources available to the Community Group, the opportunities available to it for securing grant funding and its framework and operating structure. Members were informed that it had recently adopted a more commercial approach.

In terms of the use of the facility, Members were informed that the building would be owned by the District Council and sub-let in two distinct parts: one to the Community Group and the other to the County Council and then to the playgroup. Having been advised that the Community Group would be responsible for generating income from the community part of the building, Members drew attention to the potential financial risk to the District Council if the Group was unsuccessful in generating sufficient income from the facility. A Member suggested that steps should be taken to ensure that it maintained sufficient reserves. With this in mind and having noted the views of the local Member that there was already demand for this type of facility in St Neots, Members suggested that the Community Group should be required to prepare a Business Plan and submit it to the District Council prior to any agreement being finalised.

In terms of the design and location of the proposed new building, the Panel suggested that the provision of only ten parking spaces was inadequate and could result in parking problems on the estate and also deter larger organisations from using the facility. In response, the local Member explained that the Community Centre was located in a strategic position within the development and the majority of users would have access to it on foot. However, Members were of the view that the facility could not be sustained by business generated solely from within the local community and parking should be considered as part of the Community Group’s business plan. Having agreed that the Council could learn lessons from the project, it was

RESOLVED

It is recommended

(a)  that the Community Group, which will be responsible for the management of the Loves Farm Community Centre, be requested to prepare a Business Plan and submit it to the Council prior to any agreement being entered into; and

(b)  that, to enable lessons to be learnt, the project is audited.