Community centre's battle to cut £30k rent bill

TEAM WAS 'FOBBED OFF' OVER NEGOTIATIONS WITH TESCO

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

A VITAL Top Valley centre helping tens of thousands of people a year is “determined” to stay open as talks take place with Tesco over reducing an annual £30,000 rent bill.

The team running the Top Valley Community Centre said they previously felt “fobbed off” by Nottingham City Council amid radio silence from the authority in terms of getting help with Tesco negotiations.

A meeting was finally held after local MP Alex Norris intervened and a vital reprieve has now been granted. Yet those running the community centre, and groups ranging from the elderly to those with additional support needs who rely on it, are waiting for information on how much rent they could end up having to pay.

“We want to stay open and we're determined to stay open”, said Michael Lee, the Top Valley Community Centre’s manager. “We've been waiting for the council to help us in the negotiations with Tesco but we'd heard nothing and we felt quite fobbed off to be honest.”

The team at the centre also say that half of a funding pot which had been allocated for them ended up being used to demolish the nearby Rise Park Community Centre, which was deemed unsafe. All of Rise Park’s groups ended up moving to Top Valley and the city council has not denied the claim about how it funded the demolition earlier this year.

The Top Valley Community Centre is a dedicated room hire venue and community hub supporting a diverse range of groups in the Top Valley and Bulwell areas. Closures of other nearby sites means Top Valley is now the only community centre in the Bulwell Forest area and those running it say it is vital they remain open.

The centre opened nearly 20 years ago under an agreement with Tesco when the supermarket giant opened its huge Tesco Extra store off Top Valley Way. The agreement was that Tesco would provide a community space and Nottingham City Council would pay the lease.