Councillor quits over decision to hand over running of community centre to scout group
A councillor who has quit over a decision to hand the running of a community centre to a scout pack claims the public “has not been listened to”.
Hednesford Town Council says transferring the lease to Pye Green Community Centre to 1st Hednesford Scouts from next April will secure the facility’s future.
It says the community centre on Bradbury Lane costs the town’s taxpayers £58,000 a year to run which is “unsustainable”.
But residents say they are angry that it has been handed over without any consultation and against the wishes of “the vast majority of the electorate, especially in the Pye Green ward”.
Laura Harrison, who resigned from the council on Wednesday, just 24 hours after members voted in favour of the proposal, said she was “upset” at not being able to give the public the answers it wanted due to the decision being made “behind closed doors”.
“The council said there was a range of options on the table but there was a leak that the scouts were the only ones in the running,” said Mrs Harrison.
"I felt because it is a public community centre the public had a right to be involved.
“I was upset that they had not been listened to.”
Mrs Harrison, who was only co-opted onto the council in August, said she was also concerned about the businesses that operate from the centre that will not be able to trade there from next April.
“I felt that it is not fair that they were not given the opportunity to secure their future,” said Mrs Harrison who wished to emphasise that it was her choice to resign and she was not pushed.
“They wanted to be a part of the conversation before it was handed over to someone else.”
The intention is to transfer the lease on April 1 next year after the district council has conducted due diligence on the scouts’ finances.
The town council says three quarters of the centre’s hirers will be unaffected and the community centre and function room will continue to be available for use by the community during the day and most weekends.
It says support will be given to the “small number” of impacted hirers and affected council staff.
Councillor Kathryn Downs, deputy mayor of Hednesford, said: “This is a positive step forwards for the town and the town council which will both address the unsustainable financial cost of running the site at Pye Green whilst allowing the councillors and staff to focus wholly on the ambitious and wide-ranging plans informed by the priorities for and from the community.
“Pye Green Community Centre will remain a valuable community asset and a centre for hire for generations to come and we are delighted to be working with the leaders of 1st Hednesford Scouts to secure their future in the town for the benefit of the young people of Hednesford.”
