Linwood Community Coalition A facility for the whole community

1. Linwood Community CoalitionA facility for the whole community

2. Journey of Linwood Focus

3. Linwood Focus .... • is a group of people who live in Linwood who are passionate about preserving the current resources currently experienced within our community; • is reflective of the community in the widest sense as the group represents all community age groups. • formed as it was concerned that Renfrewshire Council were demolishing a community asset that has served Linwood for more than 45 years and felt that this loss would exhaust our ‘community spirit’.

4. What does community spirit mean? Community Spirit is about: • communicating a clear understanding of what a community can achieve and what it can contribute; • supporting and motivating one another and sharing and valuing those achievements and contributions; • respecting and appreciating each other; • recognising, developing and rewarding people in our community when it matters; • celebrating achievements together; and • listening to each other and encouraging one another.

5. A Community Centre should … • be accessible to everyone and affordable for all; • be ‘run by the community for the community’; • be informal and welcoming - a place for the community to meet; • promote the closure of the inequalities gap - by providing better health and wellbeing facilities; • be an ‘information hub’ for the community to find out what services are available to them; • develop employability & volunteering opportunities; • improve access to education and learning; and • be a non-profit initiative where all income is reinvested back into our community to improve current and future community facilities.

6. Linwood Focus understands... .... that Councils: • are committed to exploring opportunities where local communities can take on more responsibility for helping to achieve outcomes set out in Single Outcome Agreements; and • firmly believe in the invaluable role that community groups play in the life of their cities, towns and villages and want to strengthen that role. COSLA – Community Empowerment Action Plan

7. Linwood Focus’ 3 options to Renfrewshire Council • Take over running of the current community centre and run it as a social enterprise “it isn’t financially feasible to have 2 community facilities in such close proximity of one another” – Liz Jamieson on behalf of Cllr Mackay “the site is required to construct an access road for the new £24m sports hub.” - Cllr Mackay • Requested a proportion of the £24m to build a separate ‘community wing’ at the future Sports Hub site “the £24m investment was the level of funding required to provide the new community sports hub and is not available for allocation.” – Cllr Mackay • Manage the new Tweedie Hall in partnership with Linstone Housing Association Agreement to “look at proposals from community groups/organisations to manage the future Tweedie Hall.” – Cllr Mackay

8. Lack of Community Engagement/Consultation? • November 2008: First rumours began that the Community Centre was being considered for demolition. Cllr Doig writes to confirm “there is no treat to the closure of the centre”. • Nov ’08 – Jan ’09: RC/RLL held a consultation process which excluded the user groups of LCEC.. ‘the main focus was on what would encourage people to increase their participation in sports’; and ‘during the summer 2009, a consultation was undertaken with carers and staff of Greensyde to discuss proposals …. Service users, carers and staff visited co-located facilities in other local authorities.’ (Both statements written in Community Infrastructure Programme to 2014). At no time during this consultation process were any of the users from LCEC contacted. • June ’09 : RC/Local Councillors agreed Community Infrastructure Programme 2014. Demolition of centre on pg 17. • August 2009 : Rumours that the Community Centre was being demolished were being circulated. Mgmt Comm write to Local Councillors. • 11th November 2009 : Mgmt Comm arrange first meeting with Council to gain clarification. Council are firm that “the Centre is coming down and it has been previously agreed at Council level and there will be no future consultation.” An agreement was reached at this meeting that RC/RLL would establish a Focus Group. This never happened. • March 2010 : Linwood residents decided to form their own ‘Linwood Focus Group’ as they had heard nothing from RC/RLL since meeting in November 2009.

9. Lack of Community Engagement/Consultation? • April – May 2010 : LFG email/meet with Council/Local Councillors to discuss various 3 options. 1) Continue to run current Community Centre; 2) £2m of the £24m is allocated to build a ‘fit for purpose’ community centre; 3) A community centre is built somewhere in Linwood, in partnership with Linstone HAA. • May 2010 : Linwood Focus work with Community User Groups to gather ‘user group information’ for RC/RLL. Community groups complete a mandate to confirm they are happy to be represented by Linwood Focus. • 10th June 2010 : User Group information is passed to RC/RLL. Agreement from RC/RLL that this information would be used to influence the future plans of the new £24m Community Sports Centre. • 22nd June 2010 : Meeting with Cllr Mackay. Assurance given that LFG would Participate, be Involved and would be fully Engaged during the preliminary planning stage of the new £24m Community Sports Centre. • 14th July 2010 : LFG writes to Cllr Mackay for written agreement following meeting held on 22nd June. Cllr Mackay confirms that it was a positive way forward but says the letter sent was a “minute of opinion’. • July – September 2010 : Linwood Focus continually contact RLL/RC for update on User Group Information previously submitted and request date for involvement in planning process. It took RLL 8 weeks to confirm that this would be imminent.

10. Lack of Community Engagement/Consultation? • September 2010 : “Public Meeting” to discuss future Sports Centre plans is advertised in The Gazette newspaper. • 22nd September 2010 : Public Meeting held at Sports Centre. 150 people attend meeting. It turned out not to be a Public Meeting but an Exhibition of the future plans that had been previously drawn up without any prior involvement from LFG on behalf of Linwood Users Groups. Planning Department confirmed that they had not seen sight of User Group Requirement Forms. Meeting became very heated as residents felt their previous input had not been included in the preliminary plans. Anne Hall calls for a further meeting to take place on 14th October. • October 2010 : Council send formal apology that the meeting held on 22nd September had been wrongly advertised as a ‘Public Meeting’. • 14th October 2010 : Public Meeting called by Cllr Anne Hall takes place. Cllr Mackay writes to say “I will not attend the meeting …. nor would I expect officers to attend this meeting…the reported behaviour of many of those who attended the planning event was inappropriate and I would not expect officers to be subjected to this type of behaviour.” • 26th October 2010 : RLL and RC Social Work Officers (Greensyde) meet with LFG. RLL highlight that community groups will ‘fit in’ with current plans for the new £24m Sports Hub and that community groups will not be given priority to lets.

11. Recent Communication October 2010 • Cllr Mackay releases a press release with a list of community buildings to be handed over to community groups/organisations to be run as social enterprises. 22nd November 2010 - Linwood Focus meeting with Cllr Mackay • Cllr Mackay confirms that Linwood Focus would need to form a ‘coalition’ to demonstrate there is a demand to have the facility located within the new Tesco development ‘managed by the community for the community’ and asks “does location really matter?” 24th November 2010 - Tesco Consultation • Rumours that Tesco were holding discussions with Renfrewshire Council to transfer £5.1m of funding to build the ‘New Tweedie’ facility elsewhere in Linwood. Tesco confirm these rumours are true.

12. What is a Community Coalition? • Community coalitions bring individuals, groups and associations together to solve local problems. • A Linwood Community Coalition will mean the formation of interested parties getting together to create positive changes within our community as groups that band together, solve local problems together. November 2010 – January 2011 • LFG meet with Linstone HAA; Community Council; Elderly Forum and write to local Churches. February 2011 The ‘Linwood Community Coalition’ is formed.

13. Who are the Linwood Community Coalition Groups? • Linwood Focus (LCEC Mgmt Comm) • Linwood Community Council • Linwood Elderly Forum • Linstone Housing Association • Linwood Churches

14. Vision & Mission Statement of ‘Linwood Community Coalition’ The vision of the Linwood Community Coalition Groups is to make Linwood a stronger, safer, healthier, greener and happier place to live. Our mission is to run a fit for purpose community facility for the benefit of all age groups in Linwood. Run for the community by the community.

15. Next Steps for ‘Linwood Community Coalition’ Groups • request an imminent meeting with Renfrewshire Council and Tesco to discuss the design and management of the new Tweedie Hall by working in partnership with Linstone Housing Association. • Obtain funding to effectively consult with Linwood Residents in order to raise awareness and get the wider community on involved. • Form a media campaign.

16. Future Proposal to Renfrewshire Council • Business Plan - Prepare a detailed business plan to demonstrate the viability of a Community Centre that will be ‘run by the community for the community’. • Support – request support from Renfrewshire Council to help us achieve our aspirations. • Time - to fully develop the infrastructure and the capacity to become a viable social enterprise.

17. The ‘Linwood Community Coalition’ Groups will... • endeavour to work constructively and in partnership with the Renfrewshire Council; • act as the ‘anchor’ for the process of empowerment of our community; • engage with ALL Community Groups, Organisations and Partners to develop facilities for our Community; and • aim to build a stronger, more resilient Linwood.

18. This innovative approachwill … • be a fantastic catalyst for Linwood to grow and mature; • give Linwood a renewed sense of pride, a real sense of a stake in the future of where we live that’s been lost for so many years; and • be the glue that will shape community facilities in Linwood for future generations to come ….