AS a trustee and one of the people who signed the original lease nearly 30 years ago, to enable a local Community Association to once again resume running Laindon Community Centre, for the benefit of local people, may I be allowed to comment on the financial collapse and the gleeful takeover of the premises by Basildon Council.

People may remember the original centre, built with money raised by Laindoners mainly via the carnivals and on donated land, conveniently burnt down as the council and development corporation were negotiating a land swap.

On its demise, Basildon Council assumed ownership of the insurance money.

As a prime piece of land in the centre of Laindon upon which the centre stood, the present administration have long looked forward to the day when they could grab control and fulfil their greedy ambition to add that land to the proposed “housing stock acquisition”.

As the lease was due for renewal next July, they longed for that day to come. Regrettably Covid-19 has forced the community association to hand back the keys earlier than one would have hoped, One reads from councillor Gavin Callaghan and his acolytes, bland statements such as, “we will build a state-of-the-art community centre for Laindon” with no indication that such premises will simply replace the existing structure.

What is true is the association was promised that the now inefficient boilers would be replaced, and that promise was made verbally in early 2020.

The advent of coronavirus gave the council an excuse to renege on that promise.

Despite the government making millions of pounds available to support local community associations Basildon Council have strung along the committee at Laindon, leading them to expect vital financial support at any moment but all the time working behind the scenes to make life difficult if not impossible, then grab the land and make plans to hand the land over to Sempra with the intention of building yet more housing with maybe a small hall as a sop to assuage public outrage.

VICTOR YORK Buller Road, Laindon

...AND THE RESPONSE

Community centre is not in danger

I AM replying to the letter that was published in the Echo on Friday written by former councillor Vic York.

The council will not be knocking down the Laindon Community Centre to build a housing estate on as he falsely and without any evidence suggests.

As soon as the Government’s rules about ventilation of buildings during the Covid-19 pandemic are relaxed or dropped, the Laindon Community Centre will re-open to the public again.

Many pensioners in Laindon and Langdon Hills rely on the services provided by the activity club at the Laindon Community Centre. I hope that Mr York will now do the right thing and withdraw his false allegation about the council seeking to turn the Laindon Community Centre into a housing estate.

KERRY SMITH

Deputy leader for Basildon Council