FUTURE OF THE COMMUNITY CENTRE
6 July
Users of the Community Centre in West Kilbride will be well aware that North Ayrshire Council is looking for ways of cutting its expenditure substantially over the next few years. The future of halls and centres is currently being discussed, and what has become clear is that the present arrangements are unlikely to continue.
The management committee of the Centre has kept abreast of what is happening and has been party to all of the discussions which are taking place within the North Ayrshire Federation of Community Associations. NAFCA has set up a working party to look at possible future provision, and it will report in the autumn before entering into discussions with the Council.
The Council is currently looking to NAFCA to create a credible option of a business plan involving the transfer of management responsibility for such centres as remain open to a Trust. If the proposals which emerge are not accepted by NAC, the threat is that all centres would close.
What is clear, however, is that for centres to survive there will need to be on-going financial support from public funds. It is unlikely that this support will remain at current levels, so those centres which remain open will be obliged to look hard at how they operate and what they charge user groups if they are to remain viable.
The West Kilbride Centre is very well used and is very committed to self-management in cooperation with NAC. But it will not be immune from the changes which are coming.
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