Scott Collins

Final report

Contents Page
Introduction 4
Executive summary 5
Work carried out 5
The neighbourhood 8
Existing capacity 10
Inn Place 11
St Albans Halls 11
Eastfield Primary School 13
Broadmead Baptist church 14
Eden Place 14
Headlands United Reformed Church 15
Boothville Community centre 16
Abington Community Centre 16
New community centre: potential uses and activities 17
Introduction 17
Demand from voluntary & community services 18
Statutory Service providers 19
Commercial market for training and conference facilities 20
Meeting the need for youth provision 20
Conclusion: case for a new centre 23
Potential sites 23
1. New build in Eastfield park. 24
2. Broadmead pub - conversion 24
3. Headlands URC site - newbuild 26
4. St Marys middle school 26
5. Inn Place extension - renovation 26
6. Eastfield primary school 27
7. Land at Broadmead Ave/Fullingdale Road 27
Conclusion – preferred option 27
The way ahead: Strategy 28
Specifying the centre 28
Making it work - keys to successful delivery of a Multi Use Community Centre 30
Risk assessment 32
Proposed strategy 32
Ownership and management 33
Capital programme and funding 34
Revenue budgets 35
Action plan 40

Introduction
Following an interview on 19th February, Partners in Change was commissioned to carry out a study into the feasibility of a new or improved community facility serving the Eastfield area of Northampton, and produce a business plan for a centre. Our instructions were in summary to
· consult local stakeholders and service providers on the activities needed in a centre
· consider existing local capacity and its usage
· review evidence of need and demand
· identify potential sites to develop a centre
· develop a business case and business plan including capital and revenue projections
Our client for the work was the Eastfield and Headlands Neighbourhood Management partnership. Day to day instructions came from Linda Martin, overseen by a steering group made up of members of the Partnership and Paul Quinn of West Northamptonshire Development Corporation.
The work on this report has been carried out by Paul Lusk, Bev Carter, Ed Isaacs and Bruce Crawcour. Any enquiries should be referred to Paul Lusk on 0800 389 1306 or 07977 517334.
We would like the many local residents and stakeholders who have given their time to assist in our task. Particular thanks are due to the project steering group including Linda Martin, Alan Wright, Cllr Jean Hawkins, Georgina Shaw, Cllr Jean Hawkins and Rosie Sergeant, who have given us considered guidance and oversight and supported us with information and personal contact.

Executive summary
There is sufficient need and demand to justify a new community multi-use community centre in Eastfield. There are a number of feasible sites for a new or refurbished development. The best and recommended site is within Eastfield Park, on the south side between the lake and Grange Road. This development should be linked to the regeneration of Eastfield Park as a safe and appealing recreation facility.
In conjunction with preparatory work on this project, investment in capacity building should realise the potential for community management of a centre and related facilities. To support a balanced and sustainable strategy, there should also be funding in the short term for repair of some existing community spaces and for a permanent community facility at Eastfield Primary school.
Work carried out
Our work commenced with an inception meeting with the project steering group on March 5th. At this meeting our instructions were clarified. The area of benefit for a project was identified as including the neighbourhoods known as Eastfield and Lakeview, but not including the southern part of Eastfield ward around Abington Community Centre. A boundary was agreed. This does not rule out considering issues of supply and demand for facilities outside this boundary, but it does concentrate attention on meeting the needs of this smaller area.
We then:
· Made a photographic survey of the area together with Linda Martin, Alan Wright and Tony Mallard (Eastfield Residents Association, Friends of Eastfield Park etc); and made subsequent tours and identified further facilities
· Prepared an initial introductory leaflet which was distributed to contacts and facilities
· Attended the partnership meeting on 12th March
· Held face to face individual meetings with Paul Howard (PCT), John Neal (neighbourhood warden), Brian Andrews (Broadmead Baptist Church), Nicky McKenzie (NBC Housing), Joyce Smith (minutes secretary) and John Stafford (warden) (Abington community centre), PCSO Siobhan Bell, Sandra Richardson (Money Advice Centre), Vijay Patel (property owner), John Baxter (Lakeview RA), Pauline Harris and Sandra Crowder (Inn Place), Brenda Hamilton (St Albans Church warden), Pat Jackson (Allotments Association), Jean Hawkins and Scott Collins (Borough councillors), Chris Hill (Eastfield primary school), Martin Spencer (sports co-ordinator, Weston Favell school), Gwyn Powell and Rev Keith Morrison (Headlands United Reformed Church), Kevin Wilson (Angling Club and proposed crèche; also FoEP) and Regional and national management for Trust Inns
· Held a community mapping event on 19th March with about 10 active residents, a local councillor and stakeholders. This included a discussion of existing facilities and potential locations, and led to the production of a map based on aerial photography identifying a range of community assets and services
· Prepared a leaflet for and conducted a ‘participative appraisal’ event on 27th March at Eastfield Residents association involving about 26 people, the majority being local residents
· Held a group meeting with youth workers on 27th March including Linda Durbin (YMCA), Gavin Lewis and Nina Bridge (NBC sports development), Loretta White (Integrated Youth Offer) and Rosie Sergeant (youth worker). Made follow up contact with Linda Durbin
· Held discussions with 5 PCSOs and to PCs in addition to PCSO Bell, and corresponded by email with Sgt Gasson
· Held a youth ‘walkabout’ to meet and talk to about ten young people (aged about 13-16) on the street (facilitated by PCSO Becky Binder-Pollard)
· Conducted interviews by phone with Ray Starkey (Northampton College), Rita Bovey (NBC Planning), Oonagh Hollawell (leader of youth work at Broadmead Baptist Church), Nicky Roberts (Youth worker at Abington Ave URC), Jenny Minney (contact for Eden Place community room), Jenny Pateman (NCC Neighbourhood Learning), Kate Howlett (Boothville community centre) and Janet Dowling (Children’s Centre manager)
· Additionally had discussions by email with Sally Keeble MP and Georgina Shaw (Eastfield Action)
· Held discussions with 6 adult residents and 9 children attending events at the Inn Place on 27th March and participated in an estate walkabout on that day
· Obtained land registry details on the Broadmead pub and visited the premises
· Visited and looked inside the following existing community buildings: Boothville Community Centre, Abington Community Centre, the Inn Place, St Albans church (including parish hall and Jubilee centre), Broadmead Baptist church, and Far Cotton community centre
· Reviewed papers including: neighbourhood statistics, background documents on neighbourhood management, community contact information, results of local surveys following housing development on school site, a report from Eastfield Action (sent by Georgina Shaw) on a community event held in 2007 and aspirations for social enterprise, a plan prepared by Eastfield Fishing Club (provided by Kevin Jones), and Companies House documents on Eastfield Action Ltd
· Obtained information from NBC community centres team about usage of centres borough wide
· Obtained a quotation from GSS Architects (whose work includes the Far Cotton centre) for initial feasibility work associated with further study of the sites identified here
· Obtained advice on costings for a range of potential facilities and considered research on best practice in development of locally promoted community centres
· Presented a first draft report to the project steering group on 3rd April; a second draft to this group and to the Partnership board on 24th April; and a third draft report to the project steering group on 1st May.
The neighbourhood
The area of benefit covers a large part (though not all) of Eastfield ward and a small part of Headlands ward. Of the two, by reputation Eastfield is regarded as a relatively deprived area while Headlands is not. Eastfield ward is actually quite diverse in terms of social class and prosperity. For example, at the time of the last census 16% of Eastfield ward’s population were in the higher managerial and supervisory occupations compared with 21% for Northampton as a whole. 67% of households were owner occupied compared with 72% for Northampton. Deprivation in Eastfield is particularly concentrated in the neighbourhood recognised as the Eastfield estate. This includes lower layer Super Output Area (SOA) Northampton 012A with a population of about 1500. 58% of homes here were socially rented at the time of the last census. This SOA is among the 7% most deprived on the national Index of Multiple Deprivation (2007 calculation) and among the 3.6% most deprived nationally in terms of education and qualifications. Its population includes about 30% dependent children compared with a 23% average for Northampton. Income deprivation affecting children in this SOA is in the highest 7% nationally. People in this neighbourhood are twice as likely, compared with the national average, to experience illness and disability, and twice as likely as the Northampton average to be claiming incapacity benefit.
This neighbourhood lies to the south of Eastfield Park, a large recreation area described on the borough council website as a ‘vast open space’ which ‘provides a pastoral retreat for the two housing estates of Eastfield and Lakeview’. The park originally belonged to two families and was taken over by the borough council in 1952. It has no lighting or vehicle access points. Part of the land is laid out as football pitches but these are uneven, poorly drained and not served by changing rooms. There is a well used children’s play area. A large lake lies in the middle, originally created as a boating lake. The park is generally considered to be unsafe especially in the hours of darkness. The Friends of Eastfield Park has formed and promoted clean-ups of the park and the lake and some planting schemes. The Friends are developing a masterplan to regenerate the park.
Possible picture: Eastfield park
The neighbourhood is advantageously located. Northampton college, a busy FE site, lies within a few minutes walk to the east. Eastfield is close to main roads and business parks and about 10-15 minutes drive from the M1 junction 15. It is thus an attractive site for new housing and several school sites within and around the area of benefit have been released for private housing development. There is a wide variety of local shopping including convenience stores and a superstore a short walk to the west of the Eastfield estate; a choice of local primary schools; two secondary schools on the doorstep; and a choice of GP surgeries.
Priorities in the Northamptonshire Local Area Agreement (LAA) include reducing relative deprivation, especially in the SOAs that are among the worst 10% nationally, and increasing the number of enterprises, especially in excluded communities. As a highly deprived neighbourhood, Eastfield was identified for priority attention under the 2005-2008 Northamptonshire Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy (now a key part of the LAA). This included support from the Local Alchemy programme with a focus on stimulating social enterprise. A number of ideas and ambitions arose from this including funding for the Inn Place (further on this below). Some local residents have generated business plans and ideas and are networking with parts of the national social enterprise movement.
Eastfield estate is a pocket of high deprivation and mainly social housing located in an economically diverse and generally thriving wider area with good local services and a high and growing level of home ownership. With ambition for neighbourhood improvement led by social enterprise, the community could make use of economic opportunity to stimulate learning, raise incomes and improve access to the job market. However there is clearly a risk that the existing sense of isolation and exclusion could be intensified by neighbouring improvements, perceived to be taking place at the expense of community open space and educational facilities.

Existing capacity

This section identifies the current community facilities serving Eastfield, and looks at capacity, usage and sustainability.

Inn Place
The Inn Place comprises a single shop unit (approx 40sq.m.) on the ground floor in Broadmead. It is open as a community cafe on weekdays and provides a high standard of food at low prices. It supplies external events and the breakfast club at Eastfield School. There are special meals for older residents which are popular. Take-out veggie bags are available on some days. The Inn Place is used for a number of community activities including a sewing club (1 session per week), Neighbourhood Learning activities, a youth group (1 session per week – further considered under youth, below), police and politician surgeries and occasional other meetings. It offers a bright, clean, lively and well kept environment.
The property is on a lease which will expire around New Year 2010. Its current location commands loyalty from existing regular users. It has good carparking and disabled access.
The Inn Place is operated by Eastfield Action Limited, a company limited by guarantee. It employs a food worker. Most funding to date has come from grants.
The Inn Place enjoys a good reputation among its users. However its current space is very limited. This restricts its ability to offer for example childcare to support activities and events. A number of people, including the operators of the Inn Place, express the view that it is not well enough known in the area.
The Inn Place has no additional capacity and is currently very short of space.

St Albans Halls
St Albans church has two community halls. The Parish Hall built in1938 has a single badminton court, a proscenium arch for theatrical productions and a kitchen and storage. The Jubilee Hall dates from the 1980s with a good size meeting room, kitchen and WC facilities. These halls are fairly well used with about 20 regular user groups, of which the majority are church related and the rest are commercial providers, local community groups or Northampton wide community groups. There are also frequent one-off events such as children’s parties. The buildings are operated under the auspices of the Parochial Church Council which could veto a use if it was felt not to be compatible with church purposes. Lettings are made by the churchwarden who has actively sought to promote and extend usage. Pricing is flexible and many local groups enjoy reduced prices from the stated rates which are £17.50 per hour (parish hall) or £15 (Jubilee hall). Income covers day to day running costs but extra caretaking help would be appreciated.
The older parish hall is in need of ongoing repair and refurbishment for which there is no planned programme or budget. The roof and the heating system are major concerns for the future. Money is raised in response to immediate need. New toilets are currently being built at a cost of £20000 partly met by a £9000 grant. The newer building appears to show some construction problems which are a concern to the church.
A theatre group is a regular user and is short of space. It has half-completed an attempt to build a storage area in the space between the two buildings.
The churchwarden’s view is that there is a significant need for additional community room capacity especially to expand the Inn Place and provide smaller meeting rooms. While this may present a problem of competition to St Albans, they accept this as a consequence of promoting neighbourhood improvement.
There is limited capacity for more activity at St Albans but such activity would need to be compatible with the aims of the church.

Eastfield Primary School
Eastfield Primary School is in the centre of the Eastfield estate. It serves a diverse range of children with a diverse intake. For pupils currently attending the school nursery to year six, there are about 65% white British and 35% ethnic minority. The main ethnic backgrounds include Bengali, Somali, Bangladeshi and recently more Eastern European pupils, mainly Polish. The school is successful in involving parents of BME backgrounds in school activities.
Community activities take place in a temporary building and include a breakfast club and learning activities especially for parents who may feel comfortable in the school environment.
The pilot breakfast club uses food provided by The Inn Place. This has been successful and the attendance record of pupils has improved. The school and Inn Place would like to continue this service, but the school needs to secure the mobile unit to continue, as it has no other suitable space in the school to use. Funding also needs to be secured.
The school has been running adult education classes for parents/open to other residents in the community in computer studies and an English speaking course (ESOL). This has been very successful as have out of school adult education classes. There is a waiting list for the 10 week computer course.
The current head is fairly new in post and very keen to be involved with community development in Eastfield. He has suggested replacing the mobile unit with a permanent building as part of the strategy for community facilities.
The current community facilities in Eastfield school are well used and are not sustainable in terms of condition. Replacement facilities are needed on this site. It is not likely that the community benefit on offer could be sustained with off site facilities since activities are closely related to the presence of the school community.

Broadmead Baptist church
The church originally dates from the 1920s and the building has had several extensions. In addition to congregational activities it provides a well used local nursery with 11 paid staff catering currently for 62 children (almost all local) per week and a youth group called ‘TMX’ (for Thursday Mix). TMX uses a meeting hall plus a fenced grassed area with portable floodlighting. Midweek activities include ‘LA crew’ for local people from the Lindsey Avenue area and ‘Celebrate Recovery’ for 25 people coping with addiction and other problems. It operates a voluntary Money Advice Centre (MAC) using a portacabin which has a limited future due to temporary planning permission. The church does not plan any further major work to its building.
The church is interested in seeing an extension of community facilities in Eastfield. It would make use of an outside community centre for activities including meetings and small group events with a Christian purpose and possible relocation of Celebrate Recovery. If the MAC continues it will require alternative premises in early 2010, including 2-4 small counselling rooms, reception and secure storage.
Broadmead has some capacity for additional youth activity in its premises.

Eden Place
This is a freestanding modern ‘community room’ linked to sheltered housing in the Lakeview area. Usage is limited to pensioners and people with a disability. It is moderately used including: Pensioner bingo and BBQ (3 sessions/week); craft group; line dancing; Art group; and darts (1 session each).
There is some scope for more such activity.

Headlands United Reformed Church
This occupies a large site (roughly one acre) on The Headlands with a main church building plus ancillary halls, and a significant amount of green space on an open site prone to vandalism. This site is in Headlands ward and lies within the identified area of benefit for this study.
The property comprises three parts: an original timber-built scout hall; a concrete panel church building dating from the 1950s; and a hall added in the 1970s, capable of being subdivided with screens into six separate rooms. There is a Sunday congregation of around 20 people, mainly older people with a past connection with the neighbourhood.
In addition to congregational use the premises provide for Scouts, Cubs, Brownies, Guides, Beavers and Rainbows on four nights per week serving a total of 120-150 young people. Leaders of these activities are not necessarily church members but are ‘allied.’ Other uses in the recent past have included a dancing group and a judo group but these have now ceased. There is scope for more use of these halls. The green space is used casually as a play area.
The buildings generally are dated and there is a lot of repair work needed. There is frequent and costly malicious damage and the building is progressively being made more vandal proof.
The land and buildings belong to the URC nationally. The local church leadership has in the past explored redeveloping the site to provide more modern church facilities, plus housing on surplus land. Such a move would require the support of the national church. It would need to be linked to a plan for the future of the church locally.
The current buildings offer scope for more activity.

Boothville Community centre
This recently refurbished building is outside the area of benefit lying north of Eastfield Park. It offers two halls, one fairly large and the other a small committee room, plus kitchen and w.c. Carparking is restricted. There are 14 regular user groups, mainly local groups from the Boothville area serving more mature users with social events, fitness, Pilates and art classes. The building is operated by Boothville Community Council, a resident group. It has some part time paid caretaking but is otherwise run on a voluntary basis. The voluntary manager feels help and support are needed in legal and regulatory issues and promotion. There is concern that an Eastfield facility in the park area could be a competitor; the solution would be to co-operate on making effective use of facilities through promotion and ‘signposting.’ A particular need is for indoor youth recreation.
This centre has spare capacity.

Abington Community Centre
This lies within Eastfield ward but outside the identified area of benefit for the study. A civil defence hut dating from the 1930s, it was converted to a community centre in 1949. It offers up to 5 meeting rooms of varying sizes, plus storage and kitchen with serving hatch. Lettings are inexpensive and the building is well used though with significant spare capacity. The caretaker is employed by Northampton Borough Council (NBC) for 30 hours per week, and NBC is responsible for external repairs and central heating maintenance. A charity (NACA) oversees the property and pays for internal repairs and energy. The current users comprise a core of long standing, mainly older, groups, and newer users who are mostly from a BME and religious background. There is intense demand for more use from this source (BME churches and Mulsim groups). The management does not see the hall as serving Eastfield. They would like to see youth activity in the centre.
Abington Community centre has spare capacity.

New community centre: potential uses and activities
Introduction
The previous section shows that there is some existing spare capacity with current facilities. However this is mainly in facilities with a church connection and there are problems in the condition of buildings. Some valuable assets, including the Inn Place and the Money Advice Centre, need to relocate, and there is a general consensus that a new centre should be provided.
There has been consistent pressure over many years for the provision of a community centre for Eastfield, especially on the part of resident associations. Since the inception of the neighbourhood partnership, this has been applied in partnership meetings. A meeting in 2006 resolved to seek £500,000 in gain from school site development for Eastfield park improvement and a community centre. At the Eastfield Residents Association (ERA) event on 27th March, all those (26) responding to the question ‘does Eastfield need a new community centre?’ answered ‘yes.’ When asked how much they would pay towards a centre, 9 answered £1 per week or more, 7 said 50p and 4 indicated they would not be willing to pay anything. There was a good range of suggestions for activities including various clubs, fitness, private hire for social activities and receptions, social events aimed at newcomers to the area, sports including short mat bowls, learning and training activities, theatre, contact points for services including police, and financial advice.
However the most desired provision in a centre is for youth facilities. This was the most highly demanded use of resources arising from new housing development in Eastfield according to the School Sites survey (Eastfield was the only area making youth provision its top priority). It was much the most favoured single suggestion made at the ERA event. In all discussions with police, attention was drawn to the need for young people to have ‘somewhere to go’.
As part of our brief we were asked to contact service providers and explore the possibility of outreach services and ‘co-location.’
This section looks at demand for space from users in different sectors before looking at the question of youth provision.
Demand from voluntary & community services
As noted above the Inn Place will need either to renew its lease or relocate from New Year 2010. Located within a wider multi-use community centre the Inn Place may have opportunity to expand its market. Many respondents to consultation have supported a larger place for this service. The Inn Place seeks to promote healthy eating and economical food preparation; provides space for community activities; and serves as a community café.
The Money Advice Centre (MAC) will also need to relocate. This service is currently voluntary and operates one afternoon per week plus some evenings. It requires two (or up to four if borough wide) individual counselling rooms, confidential storage and reception. It has a caseload of 6 active, 8 on monitoring status on 2 on a waiting list. It is potentially borough wide with Eastfield as first priority. It is working on proposals for a funded business plan
The Angling Club is a new community activity which believes it will attract at least 60 subscribing members in the Eastfield area and have the potential to generate commercial activity. It is currently funded to get a fishing license for the Eastfield Lake. The leaders are active in the Friends of Eastfield Park and in regeneration work on the park. They would be interested in making use of a clubhouse.
A local group has prepared a proposal for a community crèche as a social enterprise. Any community facility would benefit from regular child care onsite.
Broadmead Baptist Church would make use of available community facilities for new outreach work, and may relocate an existing activity requiring a room for 25+ people.

Statutory Service providers
The Primary Care Trust (PCT) would be willing to offer a range of health support and promotion activity in response to community demand, for example: Young person’s sexual health e.g. screening for Chlamydia; men’s health; smoking cessation; diet/exercise; mental health; health visitor services; falls reduction. The PCT would not contribute to premises costs. It would need a range of meeting rooms for individual counselling, small groups and large hall. No special facilities would be needed other than wash hand basins in every room, and adequate toilets and parking. The PCT does however not believe there would be any case for a new GP centre in Eastfield.
The local Children’s Centre is based at Headlands School. It has a remit to work in Eastfield but faces a number of barriers. The residents it particularly wishes to reach do not ‘cross’ into Headlands, and its space is in any case limited. The centre is keen to find local space in Eastfield for 4 sessions per week aimed at children and parents/carers.
Meetings with police indicated a strong interest in supporting youth work, for example leading sports activity, drop-in youth cafe etc. Police would also support a localised office or ‘drop-in’.
The council housing service would be willing to provide outreach/drop in support
Northampton college is willing provide learning locally and has £150,000 available on ‘first come first served’ basis for three relatively deprived neighbourhoods including Eastfield. This will support introductory sessions such as basic skills, family literacy, yoga and painting. The college would also have considerably greater resources for accredited training. They would fund room hire but not any capital contribution to premises.
The neighbourhood learning service (a county council provision) has a continuing programme of activity in Eastfield and finds it a fruitful area for its work with adults, including users of Eastfield primary school and people both in and out of work of all ages. The service operates at the school and at the Inn Place. Both venues have benefits in reaching some, but not all, potential users. The Inn Place is too small and not sufficiently recognised and the school presents barriers to some people. Ideally a neutral and inclusive venue should offer the facilities of a ‘learning centre’.
Commercial market for training and conference facilities
There is a widely perceived shortage of training and conference facilities to serve the private and public sector markets in Northampton – for example, business and council ‘awayday’ and training events. Work on this is being done by Northamptonshire Enterprises Ltd (NEL) and a report is due soon. For current purposes we would note that this demand is widely perceived and therefore there may be commercial demand for meeting facilities of appropriate quality. Typically these would be attracted by a good quality environment, suitable training/teaching aids (e.g. fitted digital projectors, amplification), large conference room and break-out areas and on-site catering.
Meeting the need for youth provision
A major expectation for a new centre is that it will provide facilities for young people. This section considers the current provision and options for developing more capacity.
The existing provision for young people in Eastfield includes:
YMCA community bus – up to 30 young people using this on a drop in basis on one evening per week, age range 8-13. Activities include arts, crafts and computer games. Trips out sometimes happen, for example for swimming. The activity currently runs at 4.30 on Tuesdays. An additional Thursday event stopped because of low demand.
TMX (at Broadmead Baptist Church) – about 25 young people, mainly boys, aged 7-16 attending on Thursdays, usually supported by 5 adult volunteers. The leader estimates that about two-thirds are local young people with no connection with the church (many do not realise that the workers are church members.) The work is seen as ‘community service’ with no religious purpose. Of those attending about half are considered to come from the Eastfield estate and from the leader’s account, they have close links with the young people often regarded as presenting a ‘problem’ and out on the street. The TMX ‘offer’ includes outdoor football (with lights), indoor games (pool, table tennis etc), and food and is described as ‘somewhere to go and get fed’. There is a 50p charge. The work relied wholly on volunteers. In the leader’s view, this work should run more frequently and the constraint for them is having enough volunteers. The premises could offer one more night per week if another body or group of volunteers is available.

Inn Place – Around 12+ young people attending aged 10-14, mainly girls, on Thursday evening, for art and craft activity. Future plans in response to requests include hair and beauty and IT activities. This work uses three paid qualified youth workers with grant funding from YMCA. The Inn Place does not open out of school hours other than for booked activities.
Headlands URC – This is the main venue on the estate offering traditional uniformed (scouting etc) activities. Up to 150 young people attend on four evenings per week.

NBC sports development – the council sports development unit offers supervised football in the park, weekly for age ranges 8-12 and 12-18. This unit is currently working to strengthen sports provision and take-up in Eastfield
Abington Avenue URC – our briefing referred to plans for youth work at this church. Contact has been made with the new worker who has been in post for three months. Her work currently is mainly with younger children with church links. She does not see her work as likely to serve Eastfield. She may be interested in work in the Abington Community centre.
Other sports provision nearby includes: Weston Favell school; Lings Forum; and the Benham centre at Moulton Park. Weston Favell facilities include a four-court sports hall and a swimming pool. These are heavily booked in the evenings but access may be available during the day in holiday periods. The Benham centre (owned by the National Association of Youth Clubs) is understood to be a 20 minute walk (or a 10 minute drive by a longer route) away and has excellent sports facilities and a commitment to work with disadvantaged young people. Facilities are promoted to local schools. Broadmead church is an affiliate of the centre and may be able to assist with access.

A twice-weekly youth session runs at the Farm (operated by the county youth service). This serves a wider area but should be easily accessible to Eastfield young people.
There is a clear lack of local children’s play facilities in Eastfield.
There is a perception of a lack of provision for young people. TMX is well used and does not promote itself because it could not cope with extra demand. The uniformed activities at Headlands URC are also little publicised but apparently well used. These premises could cope with more use if there were more volunteers and/or paid workers to provide these. The TMX format seems to correspond to the type of provision thought to be needed for young teenagers and pre-teens, and the building could be available for one more night a week, but the current volunteer capacity is running at ‘full stretch.’
Young people ‘on the street’ told us they would most value a challenging outdoor activity without adult supervision. After discussion the suggestion made was for an ‘assault course’ type of facility in the park. Young people would be interested in becoming involved in design work.
There is a perceived lack of sports facilities in the Eastfield area. Indoor facilities at Weston Favell are mainly aimed at the paying market and are well used. While there is ample open space on the park, it is poorly drained, not lit, regarded as insecure and has no changing provision.

Conclusion: case for a new centre
Our work to date has shown a wide community and stakeholder consensus behind the view that Eastfield needs a dedicated multi-purpose community centre. Existing facilities have substantial limitations in terms of size, capacity, condition and social inclusion. Many existing service providers report opportunities to make use of appropriate facilities. Main providers of current local premises all favour a new facility if the opportunities for progress in the neighbourhood are to be captured.
A new centre would potentially support neighbourhood regeneration by promoting social enterprise and job creation. It would be a learning centre and support health provision. It would enable existing activities to be sustained and provide an inclusive venue to support new activities. It has the potential, in the right location, to attract new activities from across the borough.
However there is scope to make more use of some existing facilities. This should be explored in the short term especially to meet demand for more youth activities. Work to this end should have early priority, while the development of a new facility is explored in greater depth.

Potential sites
The work to date has identified 7 potential sites:

1. New build in Eastfield park.
The identified site is to the south of the lake with access from the courts off Grange Rd. This site was originally suggested as the potentially preferred option at the ‘mapping’ event and is favoured by a number of key stakeholders.
The benefits of this site could include:
· Access to open space, possible provision of changing room
· Close to Northampton college, should attract students at breaks for lunch/refreshments
· Well located to serve both Eastfield and Lakeview
· Close to bus stop
· Attractive environment for Inn Place with potential leisure use if linked to park regeneration
· Would work well with angling club and changing rooms
· The site would provide scope for future expansion

Problems with this site may include:
· Planning issues, sensitivity to loss of open space, possibly controversial access
· Relocation of Inn Place may not suit existing customers. Would have to offer safe access and environment
· Perceived threat of vandalism

2. Broadmead pub - conversion
The Broadmead pub freehold is owned by Trust Inns. This is a privately held company mainly interested in holding a family asset portfolio.
The pub has a poor reputation locally and is regarded as a ‘problem’ site by police. It does not appear to have a substantial clientele. There has been management turnover over recent years. Trust Inns are currently seeking a new tenant who would be asked to pay rent of £18000 linked to a ‘tie’ on supplies of beer and cider. Trust Inns would expect a turnover of about £3500 per week to be achieved. They would also invest in building improvements.
Alternatively for community use they would offer a lease at annual rent of (they suggest) £35000 p.a. with no tie. The lease would be landlord and tenant act protected which means it would be renewable subject to rent review.
The building is a substantial one amounting to perhaps (a rough estimate) 280 sq m downstairs with a bar/saloon area, several meetings rooms and toilets, and seven good size rooms upstairs including a kitchen. It has good parking and a large external space which could become a games area. This location is regarded as best by the PCSOs, primarily because of the perceived problematic nature of the pub at present.
The benefits would include:
· Substantial space available immediately with no need for a construction process
· Existing alcohol license if wished
· Good parking and open space
· Potential to solve a perceived ‘problem’
· Central to Eastfield estate
The case against this site includes:
· Poor reputation of pub may deter usage
· No freehold, lease may not be good enough to attract funding
· Renovation/conversion costs unknown (but could readily be explored)

3. Headlands URC site - newbuild
The site is owned by the national URC organisation. It could be redeveloped for housing and a new community centre with church facilities. However this would probably lead to another facility with a religious connection. It is likely that any redevelopment of this site would involve a substantial negotiation with several parties. It is not clear what direction the local leadership wants to take with respect to its church presence. The site is a central one but in a mainly residential area.

4. St Marys middle school
This location was identified as the most favoured site at the Residents Association meeting. However we are advised by WNDC that negotiations for the sale of the site for redevelopment as housing are at an advanced stage with disposal agreed, subject to Secretary of State’s consent. We are also advised that the overall WNDC strategy for new build and for maximising ‘planning gain’ receipts rest heavily on delivering on the commitment to this site.

5. Inn Place extension - renovation
The former supermarket adjoining Inn Place is owned by Mr V Patel who has advised he would consider lease or freehold. This would give potential to treble the ground floor area. Consideration could also be given to taking upstairs floor area. There is potential to add about 160sq m of capacity over the two floors.
A main benefit of this option would be to retain the existing customers and familiarity of the Inn Place.

6. Eastfield primary school
The head has suggested extending the Broadmead Ave side of the school to include a community facility. This would include replacing the current mobile classroom which provides adult education and other facilities. This site would tap into the school’s commitment to the community and to lifelong learning. However it would not offer much or any parking and our consultation with young people and the Neighbourhood Learning project have suggested that the close link to the primary school would deter some users.

7. Land at Broadmead Ave/Fullingdale Road
This site behind the ‘Costcutter’ shop could have vehicle access off Fullingdale Road. The land is currently used for informal activities such as dog walking. We are advised that this land is provided as a ‘green buffer’ and building there would probably be considered ‘overdevelopment’. Vehicle access would be through a small housing court off Fullingdale Rd. This would not be a very visible site.

Conclusion – preferred option
It is part of our brief to suggest an option. Of the above options we suggest three strong opportunities as the Park, the Broadmead pub and the Eastfield primary school. The other sites would offer severe restrictions in terms of availability and capacity.
Of these the Park is the one we would favour because of opportunities to
· Regenerate the park to the benefit of all local residents
· Offer a central location for the area of benefit
· Offer good vehicle access and land for expansion
· Link the premises with outdoor and possible future external indoor sports facilities
· Locate the Inn Place to attract a wider market including sports and leisure users of the park and students at Northampton college
· Link with developing the lake as a leisure amenity
· Offer an attractive location for users including commercial letting
However this development would require the following conditions to be met:
· Support from the Borough council to release land and open space
· Support from residents who could otherwise object on planning grounds
· Careful choice of vehicle access point with resident support
· Regeneration of the park to make it feel safe and welcoming, with usable sports/leisure and youth activities
Other options should not be excluded, and in particular there should be a development at Eastfield School to replace the mobile and sustain adult learning and the breakfast club. The school should be brought into the delivery of a new centre with linkages to the facilities, and energy of the school.
The way ahead: Strategy
Specifying the centre
In order to meet the future local community needs and commercial opportunities as well as the service delivery objectives of the public and third sectors in the Eastfield area, it is considered that an outline design for a multi use community centre should provide for:
· A main hall capable of accommodating up to 150 – 200 people theatre style with lower numbers if set out with tables of 8-10 persons.
· A smaller hall/large committee room capable of accommodating 25 people around a meeting table
· A further space capable of subdivision into 3 - 4 smaller drop-in/consultation rooms by sound proof acoustic panels
· A kitchen and bar area (with separate service hatches) located so as to be able to service all the separate rooms at any one time,
· A drop in café area
· Male, female and disabled toilets
· Accessible entrance and circulation space with manned reception desk
· A community office
· Adequate storage
· Adequate parking
This is not a detailed design at this point, but a ‘fit for purpose’ indicative specification. Any final design should be flexible with scope to reconfigure space to meet day to day requirements.
These would be built with a very high standard of materials and finish to make the building warm and attractive to users and fully accessible for people with disability of any kind. The building should be designed to mitigate the opportunity for vandalism to the exterior.
Based on adjusted cost of similar provision elsewhere, an indicative estimated budget cost of this provision is in the region of £650,000 including fees. This does not include highway works.
This proposal could possibly be extended with:
· Changing rooms adding an estimated £90,000 to the cost
· Extended cafeteria space
· Sports hall

Making it work - keys to successful delivery of a Multi Use Community Centre
In November 2006, the Centre for Economic and Social Regeneration at Staffordshire University carried out a study of good practice into the redevelopment and major extension of an award-winning centre in Shropshire. The research identified that the following key factors in the sustained development and commercial/community success:
· The development was initiated and led by a supportive and farsighted, risk tolerant Management Committee and an inspirational individual with the tenacity to develop a vision and carry it forward;
· The width of vision and clarity of purpose for the Centre, with function-focussed multi-use to achieve uniqueness of activities and identity;
· A flexible lettings and pricing policy;
· The initial recognised need to develop the Centre on a long term, incremental basis with the gradual development of the complex in parallel with the process of volunteer/community ownership and consolidation;
· An attractive site with adjacent land acquisition potential;
· Low levels of local competition for the primary functions of the Centre
· The recognition of the need to develop flexible space with built in multipurpose features;
· Building from a base of broad-based community activity;
· The successful assembly of a funding package drawing on multiple sources and contributions from the private sector linked to the use of an experienced and well-networked individual to work up funding bids;
· The establishment of a community based volunteer network and, latterly, a volunteer co-ordinator that has established a sense of “community ownership” of the venture.
The Centre for Economic and Social Regeneration concluded that the development of any multi use community centre would require the following critical features to be in place:-
· Clarity of Vision: a clear initial short term vision and idea of long term opportunities and potentials.
· Funding Package: to initiate and progress the developments envisaged; and an element of foresight on how the development might be completed in stages, and how funds might be accessed for future phases.
· Inspirational Lead: the emergence of an inspirational lead individual or individuals to steer the project and to sustain its impetus, with actions built, as far as possible, from an existing group.
· Volunteer Network: if development is to be genuinely community based facility; the development of a volunteer network fostering a sense of community ownership;
· Key Building/s: the identification of a key building and/or site with space for future phases in a suitably accessible, central location.
· Existing base of demand: a link with any pre-existing sources of customer demand for the facilities envisaged in order to provide a solid foundation for any multi-use development.
· Fit with existing policies and strategies: to ensure a holistic approach and to avoid unnecessary overlap.
Risk assessment
The strengths in the Eastfield situation include:
· Several ambitious initiatives either in early development or at the ‘ideas’ stage
· Diverse community with wide range of skills
· Exciting opportunities for inclusive regeneration
· Clear community consensus behind priority for a centre
However there are also a number of challenges:
· Lack of current organisational capacity to drive forward a proposal or to take ownership and management responsibility
· Existing provision is fragile and may suffer as ambitious new strategy emerges
· Relocation of the Inn Place may be sensitive with existing users
· Major community priority is youth provision but it is not clear that providing an additional building will on its own offer increased capacity – there is scope to make more use for existing assets if activities are offered

Proposed strategy
We therefore propose the following strategy:
1. A capacity building effort needs to be undertaken with appropriate professional support. This brief will include building committee skills; ensuring sound management for local organisations by giving practical help; developing a volunteer recruitment programme; supporting existing and new uses of buildings; helping existing building providers manage as effectively as possible; and administering a ‘community chest’ type fund to help with repairs to existing buildings. The main focus should be on developing a ‘fit for purpose’ organisation with sound governance to operate a multi-use community centre. One way to deliver this would be by a full time post for up to two years. This post should initially be accountable to the neighbourhood manager.
2. There should be a pot of money to contribute to repairing and maintaining existing premises. Working with the county council, a permanent building at Eastfield Primary School should be developed for the breakfast club and adult learning activities, replacing the current mobile unit.
3. A youth forum should be formed including the current providers (those who attended the youth review meeting which took place as part of the consultation on this report) plus the following: Oonagh Hollawell, Martin Spencer and John Sharman (respectively TMX leader, sports co-ordinator at Weston Favell and leader of scouts at Headlands URC; Martin Spencer also has a brief for primary school sports activities and has good knowledge of and ideas for Eastfield and the park). This should lead to participative design work and efforts to expand the range of youth activates on offer, building on the strong base of experience in the area and the capacity of premises.
4. Planning, design and funding work can proceed on the new centre. A timed project plan is attached to this report.
Ownership and management
Part of the brief for capacity building work should be to explore options for ownership and management of a community facility to include:
· Eastfield Action ltd (EAL) – this offers an existing community controlled company with experience of property and the community cafe. It currently has two directors. EAL would need significant capacity building and would need to build a balanced team of directors to carry an expanded role
· A new development trust – this would be in the same or similar legal form to EAL and would be necessary only if expanding EAL met obstacles
· NBC – the council currently provides or supports some twenty community centres
· A new local council – the community has powers if it wishes to promote a new council, traditionally called a ‘parish council’ (referring to a civil, not ecclesiastical, ‘parish’), but may be called a neighbourhood or community council under new legislation. It can tax by way of ‘precepting’ on council tax and is elected. Should the community be interested in this option, the first step should be to ask the borough council to carry out a Community Governance Review. A residents’ petition can trigger such a review.
Capital programme and funding
The indicative capital cost of the proposed project is:

Capacity building £75,000
Community buildings fund £50,000
Community centre build £650,000
Park regeneration £300,000

Total £1,075,000

These figures do not include highway and lighting works. If it was decided to add changing rooms and a sports hall, the cost is estimated at £90,000 and £800,000 respectively.
This cost may be raised from the following suggested sources:
· ‘Section 106’ contribution from housing developers is expected to contribute the most substantial part to any funding package.
· Landfill Community Fund: this funding is linked to the presence of landfill sites within the vicinity (there are three such sites in relation to Eastfield – Clifton Hill, Clifford Hill and Boughton). Eligible uses include community and park development.
· Northampton Borough council will expected to contribute to any package
· Lottery and charitable funds are available for community centres
· The Community Anchor Fund is a new government programme which is expected to support community owned ‘hub’ centres
Work on identifying funding sources should commence well in advance of the time of anticipated expenditure.
Revenue budget
Indicative running costs for the centre are as follows.

Expenditure £
Centre manager/development officer 28,000
Caretaking and cleaning 5,000
Employer costs - NI, Pension 5,600
Staff and volunteer Training 1000
Electricity 800
Gas 1,800
Water 700
Business rates (net 20% for charity) 2,000
Insurances 2,500
Hygiene and toilet services 1,500
Telephone & Postage 700
Printing & Stationery 1,000
Building and furniture reserve and repairs 4,500
Marketing 2,000
Accountancy Costs 1000
Bank Charges 250
Total 58,350

Annual booking income for the second year (allowing for building up of custom after an initial lead in period) is estimated at about £30000 based on the attached spreadsheet. This is based on the usage anticipated from the interest indicated in this report, at modest hire rates. This income can be increased by
· Increased hire charges
· Attracting additional users, including commercial providers of activities such as dance, theatre schools, etc
Additional income comes from one-off events, including training and conference income. There should be scope to increase this figure with good marketing provided facilities are competently managed combined with a good, efficient catering offer.
Further income should be generated by profit on catering. From experience elsewhere it is possible to generate profit of up to £30,000 p.a. provided there are
· Ample volunteers to provide labour under the auspices of a professional caterer
· Drop-in users of the café. For Eastfield, this will depend on the success of the regenerated park as a leisure destination, and attracting customers from the student population as well as the local neighbourhood.
The Inn Place at present relies heavily on subsidy and is believed to make a loss on café operations. In time it is reasonable to expect that a new Inn Place will earn enough to contribute to the running costs of the centre, but this will need good management and well motivated volunteers.
The Centre manager will have a wider community development role as well as responsibilities directly related to centre management. There should therefore be a contribution to this salary from other public sources – either the Borough Council, or a new community council if established.
The revenue budget is likely to show a loss in the early years. By building up the café and the conference business, the centre should move into surplus in year 4 without increasing prices for regular hirers.
The following is a forecast on this basis. The assumptions behind this need to be carefully examined and a revised business plan prepared by the steering group or Board and regularly reviewed as proposals are developed.

Year:
1 2 3 4
Running cost (adjusted for inflation) £63,227 £64,491 £65,781 £67,097
Income:Booking fees £20,000 £30,000 £35,000 £40,000
Catering profit £0 £5,000 £10,000 £15,000
Community development: contribution to salary £12,000 £12,240 £12,485 £12,734

Deficit £31,227 £17,251 £8,296 -£638

The basis for the estimate of booking income is on the following table.
In this table:
· Room 1 is a small hall suitable for up to 25 people around a boardroom table;
· Rooms 2-5 comprises a single room capable of being subdivided into 4 small interview rooms
· Room 6 is the large main hall.
This table is available as a spreadsheet so that different assumptions and scenarios can be tested.

Regular bookings: weekly usage
Booker Fee 1 2 3 4 5 6 Income
Childrens Centre £20.00 4 £80.00
Community creche £10.00 4 £40.00
Neighbourhood learning (with creche) £30.00 2 2 2 £60.00
College (with creche) £30.00 0.5 0.5 0.5 £15.00
MAC £5.00 2 2 1 1 £30.00
Health 2 2 2 2 1 £0.00
Anglers £15.00 1 £15.00
Residents Associations £15.00 0.5 £7.50
£20.00 0.5 £10.00
Youth activity 2 2 2 2 2 £0.00
Baptists £30.00 1 £30.00
£10.00 1 £10.00
Churches (2 Sunday sessions) £30.00 2 2 2 2 2 £60.00
Other faith groups £30.00 1 1 1 1 1 £30.00
£10.00 2 2 2 £20.00
Community sports (bowls etc) £20.00 2 £40.00
Committees/clubs £5.00 2 2 2 2 £40.00
£10.00 1 £10.00
Weekly income £497.50
Annual income (Weeks after holidays) 48 £23,880.00
Premium and one-off events: annual usage
Conferences (catered training events) £150.00 10 10 10 10 10 10 £1,500.00
(mix of full and half day) £150.00 20 20 20 20 20 20 £3,000.00
Parties £20.00 10 10 10 10 10 £200.00
Receptions £100.00 10 10 10 10 10 10 £1,000.00
Theatre/entertainments £50.00 20 £1,000.00
£6,700.00
Total annual income £30,580.00
Usage against capacity:
Sessions/year 794 698 698 626 626 540
Capacity/year 1050 1050 1050 1050 1050 1050