Use it or lose it plea for centre

Two Conservative councillors have taken over from Labour Party members in the running of a community centre, and hope to revive its flagging fortunes.

The Nottinghamshire county councillor for Newark west, Mr Keith Girling, and the Newark town and district councillor for the Devon ward, Mr Stuart Wallace, are now the chairman and secretary respectively of the Hawtonville Community Association.

The association is responsible for Hawtonville Community Centre at St Mary’s Gardens, Newark.

They replace Mr John Clark, a Labour town councillor and former chairman of the Labour group on Newark and Sherwood District Council, and Mr Colin Bromfield, a former Newark county councillor.

Both resigned at the recent general meeting.

Mr Girling said: “The centre needs to have a look at itself, because it is not as well used as it should be, and I saw an opportunity to improve it.

“It is a fantastic place but is under-used so we want the community to realise it is there for them.”

He said plans included a community café in the mornings where people could meet over tea and coffee.

He said Enable, a skills consortium that helps people compile their CV and to find work, moved into the centre a month ago and has already helped three people to find jobs.

Other plans include holding regular discos and bingo nights, but he said volunteers were needed.

Mr Girling said he was also responsible for the Little Angels Nursery, which is next door to the community centre in the Newark Family Centre, and run by the association.

He said it was given a good rating recently by Ofsted and he wanted to see the good work continue for the 22 children who used it.

Previously community that rented the centre, including a lunch and bowls club, moved out after rents were increased in a bid to help the association pay increasing utility bills.

Mr Girling said rents would be reviewed to encourage groups back, and they were looking to offer reduced rates for groups that committed to using the centre long term.

Mr Girling and the county councillor for Newark east, Mr Peter Prebble, have donated £1,500 each from their community allowances to help with building the centre’s capacity for hosting events.

Mr Girling said the centre had a dedicated and conscientious caretaker in Mr John Musgrove, who kept the centre in an immaculate condition, but they needed to make more of the facility.

Mr Wallace said the association’s constitution had been changed to allow the centre to be used by the wider community.

He said: “The centre has been in financial difficulties. If people do not use it, it will have to close.

“We want to see it become more vibrant. Small villages have a village hall which is often at the centre of village life.

“The centre could become similar for the Hawtonville community.”