Falkirk Council: More groups come forward in bid to save council buildings

Members of Falkirk Council heard today (Thursday) that in the past week another four had come forward as part of its Strategic Property Review, taking the total to 32.

Last minute expressions of interest included one from Grangemouth Education Unit, where councillors have been meeting since the closure of Falkirk Town Hall.

Another came from Bonnybridge Community Centre, where the management committee are still desperately hoping more volunteers will come forward to help.

They now have until October to get together a committee that will take forward a community asset transfer (CAT) to keep the building open and providing a wide range of activities for all ages, including lunch clubs, carpet bowls, boxing and Judo.

People from Bonnybridge joined protesters from Bo’ness at yesterday’s council meeting, but a four-hour debate on the closure of Bo’ness Recreation Centre took the meeting into today (Thursday).

The Bonnybridge residents were angry that the timescale they had been given suddenly changed when the condition of the building was rated D (bad), with £1.2 million of repairs are urgently neededover the next two years.

The committee were stunned to be told that would mean imminent closure unless they were prepared to take the building on and hastily put in an expression of interest in order to start the ball rolling.

Baillie Billy Buchanan told the meeting of his 40-year connection with the centre, which he described as the “beating heart of Bonnybridge”.

“The detrimental impact on my community if this closure was to go ahead would be catastrophic,” he said.

He also said the Scouts group that has a long-term lease on a part of the building were angry that no-one had contacted them about the sudden change of plans for closure.

Head of Invest Falkirk, Paul Kettrick, said he was happy to apologise but added that officers had felt it was appropriate to bring the report to elected members for a decision before speaking to anyusers of the properties.

The Labour group put forward a proposal that no properties should close without returning to council for a final decision but this was defeated.

Councillor Jack Redmond pleaded with members to support the Labour motion, which he hoped would buy time for Bonnybridge among others.

He said: “Bonnybridge Community Centre is one of the best community centres in Falkirk. It’s a lifeline for old and young people.

“There are so many clubs that depend on this centre, it’s really concerning.”

Mr Redmond was also concerned at the previous day’s decision to use half of the £6 million funding promised to support community transfers being used to improve access to schools.

But officers denied that the £3 million plans to improve school facilities would impact on the money available to help halls make improvements as they transferred from council ownership.

Paul Kettrick said that the council would do work to make buildings wind and watertight and this would not come from any enabling funds.

Mr Kettrick also assured councillors that the team dealing with the transfers was getting another member to help with the workload.

And he stressed there is still time for other communities considering taking on a facility to come forward, promising support and advice from council staff and CVS Falkirk.

The SNP spokesperson for sport and leisure, Councillor Paul Garner, said it was “great to see the large number of groups coming forward to take on properties”.

He included Bonnybridge centre in that and said he and his SNP colleague Councillor Bryan Deakin would happily support them in taking forward the asset transfer.

He added: “I would encourage everyone to get behind the groups and officers in delivering what is a truly innovative and transformative approach to the modernisation of properties that ourcommunities want to prioritise.”