Brent Council has responded to my message regarding the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre. Although they have not answered all my questions they did state:
The Centre is required to be subject to a formal Community Asset Transfer process, which must be an open marketing of the facility. Please see the council’s statement on the matter below -Councillor Eleanor Southwood, Lead Member for Environment at Brent Council said:
“Although the Centre was due to close following Council budget savings, we have been making strong efforts to ensure that it can continue as a community facility.“To allow this to happen, we must go through a formal process which involves marketing the facility in an open and transparent way.“We are committed to helping keep the Centre open as an environmental education centre and we will favour bids which show that they can do this.”
I am glad that Cllr. Southwood and Brent Council are 'committed to helping to keep the Centre open as an environmental education centre', and hope that their efforts are successful.
ReplyDeleteI wonder, however, how much this 'formal process' is costing, and whether it would have cost far less to agree the continued funding of the Centre (net cost of around £20,000) as part of Brent's budget for 2015/16.
Philip Grant.