A Nottingham community centre says it will keep going until it "runs out of money" after the city council said they may have to leave their current building. Phil Merry, 39, says he was told during a meeting on February 7 that the Mapperley Community Association would either have to hand over their keys to the council and let them look at possible relocation, or face eviction.
Nottinghamshire Live previously reported on Mr Merry feeling "betrayed" by the council's comments. Nottingham City Council insists that no firm decision has yet been made on either side.
But Mr Merry says the negotiations are already affecting the community centre and that it may not be able to continue much longer. He said: "We have already lost two of our biggest paying groups because they're saying they haven't got any certainty now.
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"We're just going to keep carrying on until we run out of money, but it is going to be difficult. I think we've probably got around two to three months' shelf life."
The Mapperley Community Association has occupied the community centre building on Woodborough Road since 1957. The venue was previosly run by Phil Merry's father and has a long history attached to it, having been built as a war memorial to people in Mapperley who died in the First World War.
Nottingham City Council is currently reviewing the arrangements it has in place with several community groups occupying its buildings. The Place Activity Centre in Sherwood and Karam Yog - known as the Nottingham Teaching College - are among the organisations which say they would have to close if their planned rent rises go ahead.
The council is currently discussing a new community assets policy, which aims to introduce a fair and consistent approach to how the community and voluntary groups using its buildings are treated. Council leader David Mellen recently said community centres will not be "threatened" by the new policy.
Nottingham City Council previously said one of the key challenges with the Mapperley Community Centre was the low usage numbers. The authority said: "As part of our ongoing work under the Together For Nottingham Plan, the council is carrying out a review of all community assets and buildings to make sure they are providing the best value to local taxpayers.
"Mapperley Community Centre has been included in this and earlier this week we had an initial, informal conversation with the association which runs it. Like a number of venues across the country, usage numbers have tailed off since the pandemic as people’s lifestyles and priorities have changed.
“We appreciate that fewer people are using this community centre, while a sizable proportion of the building is taken up by a members-only snooker club. Even with membership open to the local community, numbers are still very small with some living outside the city."
But Phil Merry responded to this by saying: "We were forced to close for 14 months and we weren't fully back on our feet for 18 months. It was obviously because of covid but we were having to stay closed at a time when many other places were opening up again.
"We kept being given false hope by the council that we would be reopening, but the trouble was the parameters for that they set. We probably spent £1,000 on things to try and get us back open.
"The council don't seem to appreciate the struggles with covid and have used it as the final nail in the coffin for us. I have previously been told that we are actually one of the cheapest community centres to the council as well, because all of the refurbishments we have totally done ourselves."
A Nottingham City Council spokesperson added: "We've suggested to the association that they could hand the keys back to the Council and we'll work with them to find alternative venues for their activities. We're happy to continue to discuss the matter and no decision has been taken on either side at this time."
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