“WHAT they’re planning just won’t work.” That’s the view of a group of residents angry about the proposed takeover of Irvine’s Redburn Community Centre.

The Times told last month how housing association ANCHO was given the green light by North Ayrshire Council’s Cabinet to oversee the running of the centre subject to a successful transfer petition.

But at a special meeting last week, the Redburn and Vineburgh Community Association along with centre user groups voiced their vehement disapproval of the plans.

ANCHO Director Elaine Gibson previously said that the proposals have received “overwhelming support”.

But the community association and users hit back at this claim, emphasising their staunch opposition to the plans.

They also claim that a report containing their concerns was supposed to be presented to cabinet on February 10.

But, they insist this didn’t happen and believe neither ANCHO nor the cabinet are listening to their fears.

According to the association, ANCHO plan to close half of the sports hall along with relocating the toilets and closing the current office in the Redburn to accommodate their staff.

But this has not sat well with the users and are worried about a lack of space and storage.

The meeting, led by association chair Anne Frew, was attended by a wide variety of user groups.

And one member of the Redburn mother and toddler’s believes if the plans were approved then it could spell the end of the group.

She said: “What they’re planning won’t work, we need the storage. If they take the toilets away from where they are too then basically it will be the end of our group.

“We’ve got the big hall for all the games and we take the kids to the toilets to wash up for stuff like face painting. Taking them all the way through the centre, through the IT suite, it’s not going to work.” Councillor Ian Clarkson is backing the campaign. He said at the meeting: “I made it clear to Elaine (Gibson) that the users and people of the area would decide what would happen.

“Some of the ideas she had were great which would have been great for the community. The council still need to talk to the people, I still see a possibility of winning this, they have to come to you.

“I am still hopeful the majority will vote against what the cabinet wish. I will be doing my upmost to keep the community centre as it is. If ANCHO want to come on board and have the full backing of the users, groups and the association then they have to work at it and get everything in agreement.” A petition has been launched to block the proposals which has already amassed over 500 signatures from the centre users alone.

Also giving his support to the fight was Clive Shepherd of the North Ayrshire Federation of Community Associations (NAFCA).

He said: “We have regular meetings with North Ayrshire Council and we have been assured that the community’s interests are paramount and we have that minuted in meetings.

“In theory, nothing should happen here until the community agrees to it. The proposals will just not work. You’ll have half a hall and a cafe if you’re lucky.

“We weren’t aware of the report coming to the cabinet. We can understand the council’s position, the theory is okay, but the thing that is most important is that the association has to agree and that’s just not the case and we support the campaign wholeheartedly.

“They do not need to take the hall apart and taking out toilets is a backwards step, I honestly believe the toilet provision will fall below the requirement.

“The association is opposed to it and there was no mention of that in the report!

The cabinet did not have the adequate information.” Despite the ill feeling towards ANCHO’s plans, the group insisted that they are against the plans but not against the housing association.

It was agreed that a potential extension to the building would make greater sense than the current plans.

A spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council said: “We have engaged with Redburn and Vineburgh Community Association and all stakeholders throughout the process to transfer ownership of Redburn Community Centre.

“This remains ongoing and nothing has yet been finalised. At a Cabinet meeting on February 10 councillors agreed in principle to the transfer to ANCHO subject to the satisfactory conclusion of Stage 4 of the North Ayrshire Council asset transfer process.

“This will see the views of all stakeholders, including the Redburn and Vineburgh Community Association, are taken into account before any decision is made.”