A decision that will be regretted

Anyone who understands the dynamics of community cohesion will know that concentrations of any type of segregated housing, without proper consideration of the needs of the whole community in a district, always creates tensions and – at worst – social unrest.

Since Warwick District Council has failed its community over use of the Old Library, it should at least now make sure that the Bath Place Community Venture can be re-installed in its original home which, through no fault of its own, was burnt down. Its landlord, Warwickshire County Council should be called to account by Warwick District Council for not using insurance funds for rebuilding the community centre in Bath Place. Where are those funds? I have heard they cannot be accessed. If so,why not? If the county council has erred in its responsibility in some way, it should still be called to account. Or does Warwick District Council itself have a vested interest in the site of the burnt down building in Bath Place?

Why should the Bath Place Community Venture with its long service to the people of Leamington be simply tossed aside as if any old building is good enough for its citizens? Many times, when I get into conversation with somebody new, they tell me how the Bath Place Community Venture helped them at a difficult time in their lives i.e. through the availability of self-help services which drew them into a place where they were valued and then often became volunteers. Others will describe the pleasure of making music; of learning a skill; of sharing a good meal: and much more.

Warwick District Council’s short-term thinking over the Old Library is being replicated in many locations in the UK. Money is king. The true social cost comes later when communities are diminished and denied self-help and creative education in the heart of where people live. People who live in upmarket flats too can be diminished if they feel isolated from the life of their local community.

I was once part of a community neighbourhood which, very quickly, hugely enriched the lives of those local people who at first thought it would threaten ‘the value of their property.’ It did not and what they experienced gave them a quality of life and friendship never previously experienced. - Ruth I Johns, address supplied.