Council rejects community plan

Group vows to fight on
A FURIOUS community group has questioned Oldham Council’s co-operative values after it refused to let them take over the management of a local building.

Members of the Lees Community Association (LCA) had dreamed of managing the empty Mellor House in Cross Street and turning it into a thriving community centre.

They even put together a business plan with ideas of including a community cafe and providing new homes for the Oldham Band’s rehearsal sessions as well as slimming and mother and toddler groups.

But owners Oldham Council, who put the building up for sale earlier this year, have now rejected the plan as ‘insufficiently robust’.

The news was a tough blow for the enthusiastic members who have worked for over a year to get the scheme off the ground and deliver an asset the community could be proud of.

Now, in starting a campaign to counter the decision, members have been left feeling betrayed by the ‘Co-operative Council’ idea brought into effect in November.

Chair of the association Raad Al Hamdani said: “We’re not arrogant about the scheme. We want to understand where the shortcomings of the plan are, but we’ve not been told anything.

“We started this before the co-operative council idea came through and we hoped it would translate into practical ideas.

“We offered them a solution to our community problem and got a kick in the teeth.”

The management group of the association are in the process of becoming a company limited by guarantee and have applied to become a charity to be able to formally run the proposed community centre.

They argue that they would not only save the council money in maintenance costs, but would also organise the repair of the building to make it fit for community use as well as provide an activity hub for local residents.

But councillor Dave Hibbert, Cabinet Member from Housing, Transport and Regeneration, said the council were hoping to support the project but plans provided by the association proved to be unsatisfactory.

He said: “The availability of the premises was kept open for some months to enable the group to fine-tune their plan, despite incurring substantial security costs.

“Somebody else wanted to buy the property and eventually walked away.

“We did this and even then they could not come up with satisfactory, concrete plans that would make this a viable project.

“We were advised to make this decision by professional officers.

“Any agreement would have entailed a substantial amount of taxpayers’ money.

“To make that commitment on the basis of the information that was presented would have been irresponsible.”

The building is now on the market in the hope of attracting a buyer.

But members of the LCA say they will try their best to improve the plan and see the project come to fruition.

Secretary Jenny Daubney said: “We’ll now get a campaign going.

“People need to be more vocal about how much they want this.”

Fellow member Craig Penney said: “This would give Lees an identity – we do have a community here and this would give it a heart.”