Charity to take on ownership of community centre in Paisley after sale given green light
Your Community Your Space had its community asset transfer for the facility in Shortroods Road approved on Wednesday.
A charitable organisation is set to take on the ownership of Beechwood Community Centre in Paisley after its sale was given the green light.
Your Community Your Space (YCYS) had its community asset transfer (CAT) request for the facility in Shortroods Road approved by councillors on Wednesday.
The decision on the £5,000 bid was confirmed at Renfrewshire Council's CAT sub-committee, having been continued previously to secure advice on conditions that could be included to protect public interest in the building.
Among the stipulations agreed is that the asset may only be used as a community centre for the benefit of the immediate Shortroods community and wider Paisley area.
The applicant must offer or facilitate delivery of activities which meet the learning, social or wellbeing needs of the community or as are requested from time to time; permit others to hire or use space in the centre for the delivery of activities which meet those same needs; and allow members of the community to hire the space for community events and social use.
Councillor Iain McMillan, a Labour representative for Johnstone South and Elderslie, said at the meeting: "Obviously we had this on the agenda before and there were some concerns over it.
"I'm still not 100 per cent convinced, to be perfectly honest with you, but I think the proposed conditions do give me a bit of comfort.
"Shortroods needs and deserves a community space. There might not be anybody particularly interested in using it right now but that's not to say tomorrow somebody might start a group and be looking for somewhere to go.
"I certainly need to know that the Beechwood [Community] Centre is available to other groups."
Councillor Michelle Campbell, convener of the sub-committee and an SNP representative for Erskine and Inchinnan, said she was of the "same view".
She added: "I think, as ever with these sort of things, you're never going to feel 100 per cent comfortable with it for all the reasons that you've expressed at the previous meeting and today as well but I am looking to agree the recommendations."
In its application, YCYS said it wants to use the community centre to drive its mission of "empowering and connecting" with the community through support services aimed at addressing physical, mental and other social needs.
Councillors on the sub-committee agreed to authorise the council's head of economy and development, as well as the head of corporate governance, to conclude the sale in accordance with the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.
A report, which was considered at the meeting, said Beechwood Community Centre has been valued at £100,000 by the local authority and, therefore, the offer of £5,000 represented a discount of 95 per cent.
The paper added: "This is offset against a range of community benefits, most significantly, of keeping the asset operating as a community centre for the benefit of the local community.
"In addition, asset transfer of the asset will generate revenue savings to the council of over £33,000 per annum and estimated short and long-term repair costs in excess of £750,000."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
Spending Review: Shaping Scotland's priorities for years to come
Increased spending for Scotland on defence, computing and the development of carbon-capture technology have been promised in the chancellor's Spending Reeves has found £250m for the Royal Navy's nuclear submarine base on the Clyde, £750m to bring the most powerful supercomputer in the UK to Edinburgh, and funding for the Acorn Project in St Fergus. Acorn would take greenhouse gas emissions and store them under the North Sea, in a process known as carbon capture and storage (CCS).The news comes as Reeves announces the budgets for all UK government departments over the next few years. Getting the review right is a tricky balancing can see ways that public funds could be used more efficiently or even cut. Everyone has their top priority for spending what happens if there's a root and branch review, with every spending line scrutinised, new priorities set and given more funds and others squeezed or cut?We should find out later. But it may not be as radical a review as sometimes presented as too much is already committed by contract or by government manifesto to make really radical changes. What spending is being reviewed? The clue is in the name. This is not about taxation, and it's not about balancing the books. That's for the Budget, and one of them is expected in autumn, to cover review takes the spending totals already set by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), and chooses how to allocate the day-to-day spending (also known as current or revenue spending) for the next three financial also plans capital spending for four years on projects with a lifespan beyond the year, such as includes the spending in Scotland by Whitehall departments, such as work and pensions and defence. It does not include funds spent by Holyrood. How tight will it be for day-to-day spending? We already know, at least roughly, the total numbers the chancellor has to allocate. The increase in day-to-day spending is an average 1.2% per year over the three years to funds have been front-loaded by the Labour government. In other words, most of the extra spending it gets from big tax increases on business and the wealthy are being used to lift spending in its first two years. Then it gets every department were to retain the same share (which would suggest the review effort has been wasted), it would get the average we already know the defence budget is getting a significant lift, to confront growing challenges and new types of warfare. We also know the NHS requires more than a standstill budget to meet rising demands on it. And the Westminster government has committed to increasing the amount of childcare it provides. That implies an estimated cut of 1.3% in real terms for other items of government and justice have taken the brunt of such cuts in the five spending reviews since they started 27 years ago, though not in the one-year spending review carried out last big question about such cuts is whether they mean a reduced level of provision, or a challenge to get at least the current level of public service out of less sector productivity has gone backwards since the pandemic. There's a need and a big challenge to reverse that and it may need some spending to help the process happen, with perhaps more use of technology to replace civil servants. What's available for the longer term? Capital spending looks in an easier position, not least because Rachel Reeves' spending constraints allow her to borrow for that. She aims to match day-to-day spending with tax revenue, so it should not be funded by recent days, we have seen announcements to fund capital projects for defence, transport in the north of England and a large nuclear power station in capture and storage projects, to trap greenhouse gases, include the Acorn Project in a promise to spend "an initial £250m" over three years on the Clyde submarine base, "supporting jobs, skills and growth across the west of Scotland".A lot of the allocations are being attached to the government's top priority of economic growth, with an emphasis on spreading funds around the UK. Some of this spending precedes the announcement of an industrial strategy, in which the UK government intends to give added backing to industries of strategic importance such as steel, or those with the most growth potential, so there's lots about science and why Spending Review day starts with a further preview of the review: Edinburgh University is to get £750m allocated to a new super-computer, which is billed as the most powerful in the UK, and among the most powerful in the world. It will be available for research into numerous projects such as personalised medicine, sustainable air travel or climate reinstates a project that was cancelled last summer by Rachel Reeves, because it had not been funded by the outgoing Conservative government. What decisions will directly affect Scotland? Much of the state pensions and welfare budget is distributed throughout the UK by the department for work and pensions. But that share has been falling as Holyrood takes on devolved to universal credit would be felt in Scotland. That includes changes to the two-child limit on state pension's triple lock of at least the rate of average pay increase, of price inflation or 2.5%, is being retained and that also covers there are cuts in civil service numbers, that could apply to those who work in Scotland for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, for HM Revenue and Customs and for the Department of Work and there is also a plan to push many more civil service jobs out of London, so there could be gains for Scotland from relocations. How will this affect Holyrood's budget? Many of the changes in day-to-day spending, or capital spending on transport for instance, directly affect other parts of the UK, and in some cases only formula for spending should then apply a share of that change to the block grant passed from the Treasury to Holyrood – whether an increased share or a proportionate the health service gets a boost, above the rate of increase in other departments, that will be a positive for Holyrood as well. But if justice takes a hit, a proportionate share of that will be passed on to Scottish will then be free to allocate the block grant as they wish, so they can pass on the health spending at the same rate as England, or apply that money to another recent years, more and more spending has gone into the new Holyrood welfare budget, so that £1.5bn is being spent each year on making welfare more generous than in the rest of the of that has been to mitigate decisions taken on welfare by the Westminster government. And there could be relatively good news for Holyrood from two decisions in the spending review which have already been the cut in pension-age Winter Fuel Allowance brings a share to Holyrood of the necessary funds to make that happen – somewhere around £125m. That eases the pressure on Shona Robison, Holyrood's finance secretary, as she decides how to use the resources she gets. And if Rachel Reeves follows through on the commitment to increase the level of state childcare support, that will also ease Holyrood's budget challenge, as it has already found funds to increase childcare. A share of that new-found money for England will be added to Holyrood's block grant, but need not be spent that Robison has put off decisions about her medium-term plans until she sees Rachel Reeves' spending review and the impact it has on Holyrood's day-to-day and capital Scottish finance secretary is due to update MSPs by the end of June on how she uses it, including a priority list of capital include high-profile road upgrades in the Highlands and Aberdeenshire, and the stalled programme for building NHS National Treatment faces competing demands to improve the buildings and IT in public services and, on the other hand, improving economic infrastructure such as roads and rail, with a more direct impact on economic also has the challenge of either cutting some public services or reforming them in such a way that they can be provided more spending review may be of major significance for public services for years to it may be replaced by annual budgets, as we've seen in the past, making different decisions depending on funds available and political announcement in the Commons later is only the start of the process of putting those funds to work.
BBC News
11 hours ago
- BBC News
Ministers stall plans for Loch Lomond Flamingo Land resort
The Scottish government has stalled plans for a controversial holiday park at Loch had previously been set to give permission for the development, overturning the national park authority which said it did not comply with environmental and nature conservation park operator Flamingo Land believed it would be given the go-ahead to build a £40m resort called Lomond Banks, featuring a waterpark, monorail, hotel and Scottish government's Minister for Public Finance, Ivan McKee, has now said he will recall the plans because "the development raises issues of national significance in view of its potential impact on Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park". This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts.
The Independent
11 hours ago
- The Independent
Scottish Government refuses to rule out changes to pensioners' winter payment
The Scottish Government has not ruled out making changes to its equivalent on the winter fuel payment scheme, amid concerns some pensioners could be left worse off than their counterparts south of the border. A spokesperson for First Minister John Swinney said ministers at Holyrood were 'trying to understand the fiscal implications' of Monday's policy change by the UK Government. After cutting the winter fuel payment for all but the poorest pensioners last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has now confirmed some nine million pensioners in England and Wales will receive the benefit this winter. The payment, worth up to £300, will be restored to the vast majority of pensioners who previously received it, with those with an income of under £35,000 a year qualifying for the UK Government's payment. In Scotland, ministers had already announced plans to ensure all pensioner households receive a payment. The Pension Age Winter Heating Payment will see all pensioner households get at least £100, with poorer pensioners getting either £200 or £300 depending on their age. Labour, however, challenged SNP ministers to ensure that 'no struggling Scottish pensioners will be left out of pocket under their plans'. Mr Swinney's spokesperson confirmed that, as it stands, the policy in Scotland has not been changed. But adding that ministers are 'trying to understand the fiscal implications' of what has been announced', the spokesperson refused to rule out future changes to the payments. 'We will always seek to support pensioners in Scotland the best we can, we are absolutely committed to that,' the spokesperson said. The change in policy from the UK Government will bring additional money for the Scottish Government – with the spokesperson stressing SNP ministers are 'still trying to understand' how much extra cash could be due. Here, the spokesperson stressed the Scottish Government's budget is 'set largely by Westminster', adding: 'We have to, frankly, read the tea leaves sometimes about what is going to happen to our block grant throughout the year.' The comments from the First Minister's spokesperson came as Scottish Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville described the UK Government's handling of of the benefit as 'shambolic'. Ms Somerville welcomed Labour's U-turn on the benefit cut, but said the decision should never have happened in the first place. She told BBC Radio Scotland it was 'very difficult to try and run a devolved social security system when you're actually finding out some of the details on social media before you can actually find out the details from the Government'. The Social Justice Secretary insisted that was 'no way for the Governments to work together,', adding she was 'deeply disappointed in the way that the UK Government have handled this once again with the Scottish Government'. Scottish Secretary Ian Murray stressed the benefit was devolved to Scotland, saying: 'This is a devolved payment. There's lots of social security that is devolved in Scotland. It is up to the Scottish Government to develop that and come up with their own policy.' The Labour MP also told BBC Radio Scotland the Scottish Government's winter fuel payments system meant that 'limited public money' will go towards helping millionaire pensioners with their heating bills. He insisted the initial decision by the UK Government to scrap the universal payments had been the 'right thing to do at the time', but added that changes could be made to this now the economy has been 'stabilised'.
