It was agreed at Executive this week that Cotmandene and Mottingham community resource centres will move to co-locate and operate from nearby libraries continuing their much-loved services.
The resource centres were praised for the crucial advice and support they provide in their local communities, including assistance with accessing government support grants, housing and benefit advice and supporting the well-being of the community.
The Cotmandene service will move to St Paul’s Cray Library on a permanent basis - a two-minute walk from the previous centre. The Mottingham Centre, also known as the Mottingham Learning Shop, will move to Mottingham Library for a one-year trial period, during which it will also provide community outreach session from St Edward’s Church.
Around £600k funding will be provided to refurbish and remodel the libraries to accommodate the relocated resource centre services. Improved spaces and modern facilities including accessible toilets and consultation rooms will allow the full range of services to be available at the libraries. Co-locating with the library service will make full use of the buildings as the resource centres can open on library closed days extending the operating hours of the sites. Details of planned works at St Paul’s Cray Library will be announced in the coming weeks and similar refurbishments will be made available to Mottingham Library if the move becomes permanent.
Councillor Yvonne Bear, Executive Councillor for Renewal, Recreation and Housing said: “The resource centres provide an invaluable service to the community and the moves proposed will give them a secure future. The difficulties with the current buildings have caused too many disruptions to service and continuation in the current locations has become unsustainable. The moves can be accommodated with relative ease due to the host libraries’ current operating schedules, with no compromise of either the resource centre or library offerings so local families and residents can continue to benefit from the high-quality services being provided.”
The resource centres require relocation due to the end of the Mottingham lease, and ongoing maintenance problems at the Cotmandene site caused by problems from neighbouring properties beyond the council’s control, leading to regular closures from issues such as sewage leaks. An extensive search for new sites and consultation with service users was carried out at the end of last year, leading to this new sustainable solution of collocating with libraries.
Under this new arrangement, it is expected that the resource centre services will be managed by the council’s library provider Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) to ensure the services continue to be delivered effectively.
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