This is a paper petition submitted to the Council.
Started by: Petition administrator
On reaching 20 signatures this will be acknowledged as a petition by the Council, and the issue will be investigated by Officers.
This ePetition ran from 28/09/2020 to 28/09/2020 and has now finished.
20 people signed this ePetition.
In accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme and Constitution, an Ordinary Petition requires an Officer response, and I would respond as follows:
1. By way of background, Full Council made a decision at its 8 December 2015 meeting to close the Wells Centre and consolidate the Council’s social centre provision at the Community & Wellbeing Centre in Sefton Road. The decision was taken following the conclusions of a Scrutiny Review Task Group appointed by the Audit, Crime & Disorder and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting of 23 June 2015. Following the amalgamation of services, the Wells Centre closed on 1 April 2016.
2. Following the closure of the Wells Centre, Strategy & Resources Committee was required to consider the future utilisation of this surplus site.
3. As a result of its meeting held on 1 February 2018, Strategy & Resources Committee approved the development of the Wells site for residential accommodation and the provision of a replacement community facility of up to 1,500 sq ft. A series of decisions followed setting out the optimum site configuration for the proposed development.
4. On the 16 November 2018, a Petition was submitted requesting;
“We, the undersigned, protest against the closure of The Wells Community Centre and the proposed New Development. The land was gifted to the Community and The Residents should be listened to. Our Borough Councillors should represent the community who elected them.”
The Council responded by letter dated 7 December 2018, where it confirmed;
“The site is not being closed as a community facility is being re-provided. A decision about the current arrangements was made several years ago and those decisions have been implemented. The next and final stage is the development of the site, which has been the subject of a number of committee reports during the course of this year (2018).
Both the engagement exercise and the petition raised concerns about opening the new community facility and to address these, the committee has approved an officer / community working group to be set up. To assist the community groups wishing to run the facility, the working group will specifically look at the layout, internal design, operation and management of the community facility. In addition, the working group will also consider the layout of the play area.”
5. As a result of feedback from the community working group,
changes were made to the community facility design including:
• The community hall building was enlarged from 1,518 sq ft
(141 sq m) to 1,631 sq ft (151 sq m)
• Additional storage was added
• The kitchenette became a separate kitchen
• A new lobby area was created for safeguarding purposes
• A set down/ drop-off parking bay was set aside, allowing for
the unloading of equipment
Yours sincerely
Mark Shephard
Head of Property & Regeneration