QUESTIONS over the closure of Irvine's Vineburgh Community Centre were raised at a meeting of North Ayrshire Council this week.
Reform councillor Matthew McLean raised a series of issues relating to the centre, which reopened recently after a lengthy period of closure.
In particular, he asked why the council had to pay more than £7,000 in outstanding electricity and water bills for the centre before it could reopen.
At a meeting of the full council on Wednesday, the Irvine South councillor asked:
- What condition the Vineburgh Community Centre was left in after the previous tenants/operators left?
- Were there any outstanding bills?
- Was a 'stock check' undertaken to ensure that all equipment was left behind?
- And what was the reported 'utility issue' that prevented the building from opening until recently?
In response, Councillor Alan Hill told Cllr McLean that there was an electricity bill, including reconnection charge, of £5,094 and a Scottish Water and drainage charge of £1,213.
The SNP member added: "Outstanding sums were paid to facilitate the reconnection of utilities.
"All council-owned equipment, including furniture etc, was present when the centre was returned to the council.
"The utility issues included waiting for a reconnection slot to be available, and there were also safety checked to be carried out to allow the centre to be opened for all users."
Councillor McLean responded: "The reason I am asking about this is that we generally have oversight of this at the audit and scrutiny committee.
"For whatever reason, there has been much debate, discussion [and] hearsay about the centre and why it closed, and why it has only recently reopened.
"I just wanted to ask why we had to take on these reconnection charges. Why did we have to pay a Scottish Water bill?
"My understanding is that the setup between groups and the council is they are not our bills. Do we have any plans to recoup them from the previous tenants?"
Councillor Hill answered: "My understanding is that the costs were funded from non payment of the service level agreement with the centre over the period whilst the centre was closed.
"If the member has a specific point he would like answered, I am sure he could email these and the service would be happy to provide a response."
The centre was managed by Councillor Louise McLaughlan (Labour, Irvine West) before its closure.
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