The manager of a Nottingham community centre says he has lodged a complaint with the city council after the authority told him last month to hand over the keys to the building. Phil Merry, 39, says he was told during a meeting on February 7 that if the Mapperley Community Association did not hand over the keys, they could face eviction from the Mapperley Community Centre on Woodborough Road.
But Mr Merry says this position has now changed after a meeting on Wednesday night (March 8). Mr Merry says this meeting was attended by a senior councillor and council officer, both of whom are said to have told him that eviction was "never an option."
Instead, Phil Merry says the council is keen to negotiate on the signing of a new lease which will move the Mapperley Community Association on to a commercial level of rent. But Mr Merry says the uncertainty around the initial eviction threat has cost the group around £4,000.
