The news that Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) plans to sell Park Street School by auction to the highest bidder for new housing is to put it politely disappointingly short sighted. The current locally developed proposals to redevelop Park Street School as a community centre are an excellent example of a community focused project that actually aims to benefit local people and the community, but, of course people are beginning to suspect that MCC don’t actually believe in the concept of the community – merely the opportunity to line their own ill managed coffers.
MCC needs to actively work with (rather than against) community groups to explore ways of tapping potential funding streams like the newly launched Community Assets Transfer Programme (November 4th 2009) so that Park Street School can provide long term benefits to the community rather than short term financial gain to MCC and any developers. There is a real opportunity to transform the former School into a Community Centre, which could provide real opportunities for local people and community groups and make a real contribution to the community with a day nursery, the provision of holiday play schemes and clubs.
No comments:
Post a Comment