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On 15 February, the Council published their final plans – to cut £833,000 from community learning and development. Click here for the document.The proposals to sack community worker posts remains. The only thing they have done during the consultation is to agree not to cut janitorial overtime (so the centres not closed can open in the evening).

But the Council have kept secret the details of which centres will be axed or see massive cuts – so it COULD BE YOU.

The Council published its consultation paper on the cuts on 21 January. You can read it here (click on “consultation paper” in the first line to open the document).

The paper proposed cuts of £850,000 to the Community Learning and Development budget, the loss of 16.5 FTE staff, and introduces the threat of “village hall” status for some centres.

A public meeting was held on 28 January where council staff faced hundreds of angry residents from community centres and groups. The deadline for submissions was 11 February. The decision was taken on 21 February – the day the Council set the budget for the year ahead.

The Council are shamefully pushed through these cuts through with no proper consideration of the havoc this will wreak on us residents.

If you would like any further information, please contact us on communitycentres@googlemail.com.