Community centre hopes dashed

COMMUNITY volunteers who dreamed of creating their own village hub in Lees have had their hopes dashed.

Members of the Lees Community Association (LCA) had applied to Oldham Council to take over the management of Mellor House — an empty council property in Cross Street.

However after having their initial proposal turned down, members have now lost an appeal to turn over the decision, spelling the end for the project.

Association chairman Raad Al-Hamdani said: “What is frustrating is that we weren’t even given a chance.

“We had contact with a number of organisations who were interested in making use of the building, but we weren’t in the position to offer it to them.

“The amount would have been enough to meet the initial running costs so we could make a start, but they didn’t let us make a go of it.

“It’s such a disappointment for us, we had support and we’d spent so many hours preparing this project.

“They say the council is co-operative, but that didn’t come into it.”

The decision comes just days after the council granted the Springhead Community Group with a 30-year lease to run the village community centre.

The Lees group had planned to get advice from their neighbouring association about making the scheme a success.

Had the appeal been successful, Mellor House could have become a community cafe as well as providing a luncheon club for elderly residents who live locally. Mother and toddler and slimming groups had also expressed an interest in using it as a meeting spot, while aspirations were to eventually open an internet cafe for community use.

However the proposals were turned down by the council as it said the association had not produced a sustainable or robust business plan.

Officers said the group had not demonstrated that the funds, estimated to be around £50,000 to undertake the repairs and refurbishment, were available.

They added that members had not demonstrated that they had adequate business and marketing skills to sustain the business plan and that a realistic timetable to get the building open had been set aside.

The council’s decision to put the property on the market in August last year was also explained by officers, who said that the LCA had failed to submit a business plan within a designated six months.

Since then there has been significant interest and offers for the property.

Members of the Saddleworth and Lees District Partnership, who even contributed cash to have a survey carried out on the building, hit out at the council’s decision.

They however decided that it could not afford to fund a judicial review, which would cost £20,000 to £30,000.

Councillor Val Sedgwick said: “The council wants people to come together and support the community — then they turn them down.”

The community association have vowed to try and address some of the needs in the village despite failing in the mission.



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