The new communal warm spaces for people who can’t afford to heat their homes in South Gloucestershire are “totally insufficient” because they will not be open when they’re needed most during evenings or weekends, councillors heard. A total of 17 venues, plus the district’s libraries, have so far signed up to the scheme offering welcome places for residents struggling to pay their energy bills this winter.
But a council meeting heard that they are over-concentrated in Yate, where there are eight – almost half – at the expense of rural areas and that very few stay open after normal working hours. Libraries aside, just one opens on Saturdays – and only for three hours – while the only centre that does not shut before 7pm operates once a week on Thursdays.
South Gloucestershire Council says some of the locations are already planning to increase their opening hours while more are expected to apply to become a community welcome space, which are described as “free, warm and friendly” and are also being set up in Bristol. Former Labour local by-election candidate Sean Rhodes told cabinet members on Monday, November 14: “Clearly weekends and evenings are the times when families with children are going to be most in need of access to warm and welcome spaces when the cost of putting hot food on the table for their children, heating the home, using wifi for homework and having family time watching television together is at its most expensive.
