Minutes of the Community Centre Committee Meeting – Wednesday 11 November 2020
BRACKLA COMMUNITY COUNCIL
THE NEXT MEETING OF BRACKLA COMMUNITY COUNCIL
COMMUNITY CENTRE COMMITTEE
Wednesday 11 November 2020 at 6.30pm
Via Video Link
Members Present
Cllr T Giffard – Chairperson
Cllr D Aston
Cllr I Hibble
Cllr A Pucella
Cllr J Spanswick
7 Apologies for absence
None
8 Declarations of interest
Cllr I Hibble, declared a personal interest throughout as he is a Civil Servant working for Welsh Government.
9 Community Centre Reopening Update
The Clerk provided a general update on the Centre, in that it had now been open since the beginning of October and a few groups had returned and were operating successfully. There had been the break for the firebreak lockdown but the groups had again returned following this.
Members were presented with a breakdown of the costs for the current running of the Community Centre, which indicated that with the current usage covered the Cleaner and Caretaker costs including the extra agency cover required for the additional cleaning duties between groups.
The Clerk informed Members the current Caretaker had given her resignation and would be finishing on Monday 7th December. A Human Resources/Personnel Committee Meeting would be scheduled to discuss the job advert and description.
The Clerk advised the Committee on new Government advice regarding ‘organised activities’ where groups of up to 15 were permitted to meet indoors in a community centre providing that it is organised by a business, public body or charitable institution, club, political organisation or national governing body of a sport or other activity. She explained that if groups without the above were to return and hire the community centre, the Community Council would need to act as their governing body, essentially run them and be responsible for them..
Cllr I Hibble highlighted that there were other associated costs for the Centre which were not shown in the spreadsheet to which the Responsible Finance Officer (RFO) confirmed, indicating those such as gas, electric, insurance etc.
Resolved:
The Committee agreed that in order to air on the side of caution, the Community Council should not take on the responsibility of acting as a form of governing body for other community centre groups. Unfortunately this meant that groups who do not meet the criteria for an ‘organised activity’ could not yet return but Members agreed that it would also be too difficult to operate as staff would have to be on site the whole time these groups were in attendance which was not practically possible. This was proposed by Cllr J Spanswick and seconded by Cllr I Hibble.
10 Update on Storage Areas
The Clerk advised members that storage areas have been sorted and cleaned and that all kitchen equipment had been removed. Groups would be asked to clean rooms and cupboards to allow room for other groups who have requested storage when it is safe to do so.
It was suggested that where groups were not willing to share storage rooms, they would be asked to pay a fee for storage. This would be looked at more in depth once things return to normal after the Coronavirus Pandemic. Members asked questions regarding the responsibility and liability of the various equipment and items stored by the groups in the Centre, to which the Clerk advised that most cupboards and rooms are locked and that it is included in all hirers contracts that items are left at their own risk.
11 Community Centre – Maintenance and Building Work Plan
The Clerk informed members that a message was sent to all hirers asking for suggestions but only a few responses had been received. One comment was that should the committee room become an ‘L’ shape if the proposal to knock through the two small rooms went ahead, this would possibly deter some using the room as they would not be able to see the group leader or the white board. It may not therefore be viable for some groups.
Resolved:
The Committee concluded to recommend to Full Council that on the subject of a Maintenance Plan and any building work proposed, the Council should prioritise the more immediate maintenance needs of the Centre before considering any building work. With this in mind they determined the following list of priorities and recommend that this be incorporated into the Council’s Five Year Plan and inform any future budget planning: ,This was proposed by Cllr J Spanswick and seconded by Cllr I Hibble.
Item/Action Priority
Improved Wheelchair Access throughout Centre 1
Any items raised by Fire Safety Risk Assessment 1
Environmental/Energy efficiency assessment 1
Heating system (based on outcome of assessment above) 1
Fascia’s and Guttering replaced 1
Windows and doors replaced
(Fire door replacement to include installation of disabled access) 1
Storage 1
Painting and general refurbishment ie. rip out what not needed, plaster, carpentry etc) 2
Replace furniture eg. tables, chairs 2
Refurb or replace hall floor 2
Explore need and costs for Wifi 2
Security System 3
Solar Panels 3
The Committee also recommend:
• that further consultation take place with the various groups and users of the Centre, via an extended video meeting in order to seek their views; and
• that based on the above list the Council look to apply for the Town and Community Council Fund as soon as possible to see if they can obtain some funding towards the above maintenance work to the Community Centre.
Meeting closed at 7:10pm
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