New centre under threat
By Jo Deeks on Thursday, 30th September 1999.
PLANS for a Resource Centre in Haverhill's former Magistrates Court have hit a setback.
St Edmundsbury Borough Council has warned it may not provide £90,000 to refurbish the Camps Road building unless Haverhill Association of Voluntary Organisations (HAVO) raises £40,000 to cover the first years running costs.
The association has produced a business plan for the centre, which would be used to provide meeting rooms and office facilities for local voluntary groups.
But at a meeting of Haverhill Partnership Group, Dr Henry Tam, the group's chairman and St Edmundsbury Borough Council's assistant chief executive, warned the council would not provide revenue funding.
A bid for £90,000 in the council's capital programme will be considered by the council's Policy and Resources Committee next week.
But Dr Tam said councillors were unlikely to risk allocating this sum to the project unless the £40,000 revenue funding had been secured and they were sure the project would go ahead.
Ann Thomas, chairman of HAVO, told the meeting the association had been working with Eastern Group on the business plan and the company was prepared to second a member of staff to act as director of the centre in the first year.
That person would work on gaining partners and securing funding for the future.
Sergius Calvert, of St Edmundsbury Borough Council, said it had been made clear to HAVO that funding for the refurbishment could only be granted if the £40,000 for rent, rates, a caretaker and services, was available.
Sue Fanning, secretary of HAVO, said there had been a misunderstanding about the funding, but she and her colleagues were confident the money could be found. As HAVO was due to gain charitable status, it could get their rates waived.
She said HAVO would have a plan in action to provide cash by mid-November to support its bid for funds from the borough council.
St Edmundsbury Borough Council has warned it may not provide £90,000 to refurbish the Camps Road building unless Haverhill Association of Voluntary Organisations (HAVO) raises £40,000 to cover the first years running costs.
The association has produced a business plan for the centre, which would be used to provide meeting rooms and office facilities for local voluntary groups.
But at a meeting of Haverhill Partnership Group, Dr Henry Tam, the group's chairman and St Edmundsbury Borough Council's assistant chief executive, warned the council would not provide revenue funding.
A bid for £90,000 in the council's capital programme will be considered by the council's Policy and Resources Committee next week.
But Dr Tam said councillors were unlikely to risk allocating this sum to the project unless the £40,000 revenue funding had been secured and they were sure the project would go ahead.
Ann Thomas, chairman of HAVO, told the meeting the association had been working with Eastern Group on the business plan and the company was prepared to second a member of staff to act as director of the centre in the first year.
That person would work on gaining partners and securing funding for the future.
Sergius Calvert, of St Edmundsbury Borough Council, said it had been made clear to HAVO that funding for the refurbishment could only be granted if the £40,000 for rent, rates, a caretaker and services, was available.
Sue Fanning, secretary of HAVO, said there had been a misunderstanding about the funding, but she and her colleagues were confident the money could be found. As HAVO was due to gain charitable status, it could get their rates waived.
She said HAVO would have a plan in action to provide cash by mid-November to support its bid for funds from the borough council.
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