Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Community centres ‘vindicated’ after ‘potentially-lethal‘ plans to change rents are overturned

Paul O'Connor at Inchgarth Community Centre. Image: Darrell Benns/ DC Thomson.
Paul O'Connor at Inchgarth Community Centre. Image: Darrell Benns/ DC Thomson.

Community centre leaders in Aberdeen say they have been “vindicated” after plans they feared could force their closure were overturned.

Concerns were raised that proposed changes to the community centre rent agreements would spell disaster by leaving them unable to apply for certain avenues of funding.

While most of the leased centres in the city are partway through 10-year leases, a report before councillors yesterday recommended they were scrapped and changed to just three years.

Andy Finlayson, from the Altens and Cove Community Association, said the process had caused “anguish and anxiety” for many.

He told the operational delivery committee: “Most applications require a 10 year lease before they will put money in.

“We have had to turn down grant opportunities because we are on a short lease.”

And Paul O’Connor, chairman of Inchgarth Community Centre, said “no funder in their right mind” would consider investing in a facility if it appeared to be under threat.

After grilling officers on the potential consequences of the move, councillors agreed to revert back to the standard 10-year rent.

They also vowed to help any centres with funding applications if the money hinges on them having a lease of a certain length.

Convener John Wheeler said: “We have incorporated the 10-year lease, should any centres require that.

“We didn’t want to make it over-prescriptive so if centres do not wish that lease they are not required to take it. I hope that satisfies a number of concerns.”

Mr O’Connor said: “We made a strong case for this throughout the last year – and the last 20 years – and hopefully we can get on with the already difficult job of running our successful, value-for-money, low cost, tremendous return-on-investment community centres.”

Mr Finlayson added: “The fact we have come along and shown we’re not comfortable and they have agreed to change it is a very good thing.

“We’re looking forward to this future relationship with the council.”