Community Centre closure set to go ahead

Frantic eleventh hour efforts are being made to save Guilsfield Community Centre, but unless a solution can be found in the next week it will close on January 1.

An emergency meeting last night was well attended, and those present unanimously voted that they wanted to see the centre remain open.

However, when it came to electing new trustees to the board, only two people stepped forward with a minimum of four required.

The problem stems from an original lease that formed the Community Centre charity in 1996, with the ‘trustees’ consisting of representatives from each of the organisations deemed as ‘users’ of the centre.

In recent years, though, there has been a wrangle over liability issues stemming from the purchase of recreational land, resulting in a majority of trustees resigning.

And last night, while many present were willing to commit, they explained that they would need the green light from their respective organisations first.

This could take time, so another week has been allowed for the required four trustees to come forward. Should this happen, it is then proposed that an Extraordinary General Meeting be held 14 days later to allow interested members of the public to be co-opted to a committee that would run it through to March 2020, when the current leasing agreement can be disbanded and redrawn.

But, should no-one step forward from the organisations using the centre in the coming days, the meeting’s motion to close the centre on January 1 will stand. Should that be the case, it is believed that school's daytime use of the facility would not be affected.