Meeting documents

1 THE ISSUE

1.1 Consideration of a proposal from Bath Communities Partnership to redevelop Southside Youth & Community Centre into a community resource centre, providing offices, training and conference facilities, youth provision, recreational facilities and managed workspace.

2 RECOMMENDATION

3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

3.1 The costs of a detailed feasibility study would be met by the Bath Communities Partnership and financed by the South West England Regional Development Agency. The proposed feasibility study would examine the Capital and Revenue costs in detail to form a view of the overall financial stability of the proposed project. It would include both a demolish and rebuild option as well as a refurbishment option.

Capital cost

3.2 Representatives from SWERDA have advised BCP that the estimated cost for redevelopment of the centre could total approximately £1.2 Million excluding the cost of the site. The BCP could contribute £500,000 towards this project using SWERDA funding and a further £100,000 has been pledged by a Charitable Trust. The balance of £600,000 remains unfinanced. Sources of potential funding for this sum include:-

·Private business Investors
·Charity bank
·Community investment fund
·Council Capital budgets
·Section 106 contributions from local development
·Private sector Managed workspace provider (with potential SWERDA support)

3.3 The site is valued at approximately £300,000. Were the project to go ahead, the Council would make a further contribution of this amount by transferring the site to a Development Trust supported by legal status registering with Companies House as a Company Limited By Guarantee on a Freehold or long lease basis.

Revenue (ongoing) cost

3.4 The operating costs and potential income generation for the new facility have been subjected to an initial, high level review. This review indicates that operating costs- including utilities and building maintenance- could total approximately £66,000 per annum, whilst external rental income of £44,000 per annum could be achieved by letting office managed workspace and the reminder of the building.

3.5 A further contribution could be obtained following the transfer of Youth and Community Services into the facility, although this may require additional revenue finance by the Council, if it does not produce a reduction in costs elsewhere within the Youth and Community Service.

3.6 Members should note that the Councils existing capital programme has made no provision for either the capital or ongoing revenue costs of this project. The Executive agreed on 7th September 2005 - "To agree to defer any additional spending on capital schemes unless there is certainty around funding sources for these works".

3.7 The Councils capital programme remains over-committed and it is advised that no further unfunded additions should be made to the existing programme. Members could decide to proceed to detailed feasibility stage but any proposals that require capital funding from the Council will prove extremely difficult in the current capital planning context.

4 THE REPORT

4.1 This report considers a proposal from Bath Communities Partnership to undertake a detailed feasibility study for the redevelopment of the Southside Youth & Community Centre and requests that the Council gives it "in principle" support to such a scheme if it can be proved viable. The attached report from Bath Communities Partnership gives more details on the concept.

4.2 In developing the concept so far, Bath Communities Partnership has consulted stakeholders such as the Primary Care Trust; The Princes Trust; Bath Racial Equality Council; South West Bath Credit Union and Jobcentre Plus, all of whom have given their broad support for the concept. A detailed feasibility study would include wider consultation with the communities which the regeneration scheme is aiming to support - the Black and Minority Ethnic communities across Bath and the residential communities of the South West Triangle (Twerton Ward, Southside Ward and a part of Westmoreland Ward).

4.3 If the feasibility study led to a viable project proposal, this would be subject to a SWERDA led appraisal process, ensuring that the project was meeting relevant objectives and statutory requirements such as the Race Relations Act Amendment.

4.4 The Southside Youth & Community Centre belongs to the Council. The building was put up in 1967 as a Youth and Community Centre primarily to support the new community on the Whiteway Estate and surrounding area. An extension was built onto the Community Centre arm of the building in the mid 1980's as a lounge and skittle alley, for what was effectively a social club. The building has been run almost from it's inception as two separate parts. One part of the building is the Youth Centre where Youth Activities are run for 3 evenings a week, approximately 3 hours per evening, and a programme of youth activities are organised by the worker for young people on the estate at other times, often including weekends. This includes using the outside sports court for a range of sports activities both formal and informal. A full-time youth worker is based at the club along with part-time youth support staff, covering youth support in the Bath South area. A range of playschemes and activities are run every holiday period in association with Bath Area Play Project, and by the youth work staff including residential activities and 'community fun days'. The playschemes are for 2 weeks at Easter and for 3 weeks in the Summer. The Youth Centre/staff ran until 2004 a project during the day, for excluded and at risk of exclusion pupils from across the authority, but because of the state and access to the building that project stopped, and has been developed elsewhere.

4.5 The use of the both parts of the building has suffered over the last four years primarily because of the very poor state of the Community section, and because of the very poor access, for which major DDA work is required. The Youth Centre was regularly used for community activities and meetings including as a base for the Southside Community Association and the Southside Food Co-operative, up until the last 18 months. Currently other than the day use by the Holiday Playschemes, the building is used for Councillor Advice surgeries, an arts project (ACTA), and for occasional meetings; for approximately 3 hours per week. The Community half has been empty, unused and in very poor condition for four years since the previous leaseholder left , with major work needed to make it sound and usable for the public. In November 2003 the Youth and Community Service within the Council commissioned a feasibility study for refurbishment of the building, and the costs were then estimated at about £500k, and a number of other options for partial development have been explored, but the funding needs are considerable.

4.6 The long term regeneration benefits of this project could be substantial, providing a positive focus for a community which by most indicators is the most deprived in Bath and North East Somerset. It attempts to provide better access to services such as Youth provision and outreach services from the Primary Care Trust and Jobcentre Plus. It also aims to promote the economic regeneration of the area by encouraging entrepreneurs and creating jobs within the managed workspace element. If proven to have long term financial stability it has the potential to be an effective way of supporting a holistic approach to regeneration. Whilst the potential direct benefits for residential communities in the area are clear, more evidence on the positive impact the proposal would have on the city's Black and Minority Ethnic Communities would need to be demonstrated.

5 RISK MANAGEMENT

6 RATIONALE

6.1 The Bath Communities Partnership is in the final year of a regeneration programme funded by the South West Regional Development Agency. The Partnership has been making good progress with achieving the outcomes and outputs it was contracted to achieve. The Partnership has approximately £500,000 unallocated within its programme and has been considering the most appropriate options to invest this money and leave a lasting regeneration impact. The redevelopment of the Southside Youth and Community Centre has emerged as an idea to help achieve long lasting regeneration in the area and the Partnership has undertaken a pre-feasibility report which they have submitted to the Council. The South West Regional Development Agency is content for the Partnership to undertake more detailed feasibility if the Council commits its "in principle" support. A new development trust or other community controlled legal entity would be formed to lead this project if it were proved to be feasible.

7 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED

7.1 BCP and SWERDA have considered other options for investing the £500,000. The Partnership is developing these options but the redevelopment of the Southside Youth & Community centre remains their preferred option. In the Partnership's view, their proposal offers the best opportunity to support its target groups and support long term social and economic regeneration. Alternative projects will be more strictly related to economic development criteria in compliance with SWERDA.

7.2 The Council could at this stage reject the proposal if it felt it would not achieve a lasting regeneration impact or if any additional finance required could not be met from the Council's own resources.

8 CONSULTATION

8.1 Ward Councillors, Other B&NES Services, Section 151 Finance Officer, Chief Executive, Monitoring Officer

8.2 Circulation of draft Executive report and Bath Communities Partnership proposal

8.3 Ward members for Southdown and Twerton have expressed their support for the project in concept and for a feasibility study to be undertaken.

9 REASONS FOR URGENCY

9.1 Not urgent.