Mason Moore | Hinckley Reporter | 27 December 2021

NUNEATON and Bedworth Borough Council (NBBC) are looking for residents who are willing and able to help them run three of their local community centres.

Two of the three community centres are based in Nuneaton – one in Stockingford, and the other on Bond Street in the town centre, named the Newtown Centre.

The other is based in the village of Keresley, in the nearby city of Coventry.

All of the buildings are currently owned and managed by the Borough Council.

The Council have stated that over the course of the next six months, they intend to find interested people who want to come forward and help run the centres.

Ward councillors in their local areas have already been pursuing ideas – and the Borough Council have also started to approach local organisations.

Locally, many community centres are already managed by local committees, which are run by residents and community groups, without direct involvement from the council.

A letter sent to local groups, states: “The Council’s view is that community assets best serve their local community when they are led by the community in which they serve.

“The Council proposes that initially management is responsibility is transferred to a community group, and then the building responsibility transferred some point after that.”

Coun. Sam Croft, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Corporate Services, said: “By making this change now, we are offering the best chance to secure these community centres for the long term by offering a longer lead in time for the transfer and making funds available for capital repairs, instead of just saving money and walking away.

“We believe people know how to run things in their own communities better than any council, and we are going to trust them to do just that.

“This new independence will give the centres considerably more freedom to put on a wider range of activities and apply for funding they currently cannot access because of the limitations of council control.

“We know there are people out there with the will and the imagination to help make these centres the success they deserve to be.

“We are open to ideas to make that happen, and we very much hope that local people will now come forward and supply those ideas through this consultation.”

Residents are being invited to supply suggestions or express interest in the buildings through an online form.