4. BACKGROUND

4.1 Arbroath Community Centre (former Drill Hall headquarters of the Arbroath Rifle Volunteers from 1883) was one of three sports centres operated by ANGUSAlive on behalf of the Council in the town of Arbroath. It is not a common good property; however, it is a Category C listed building which closed as a leisure centre in 2020. It was then leased to NHS Tayside as the main vaccination centre for the area. Given the financial constraints faced by ANGUSAlive, they intimated their desire to cease operating the facility within their business plan as part of the March 2023 budget setting (Report 53/23). As part of the required Change Process for Angus Council to accept a building back, the Council was required to consider the feasibility of continuing to operate the service before considering disposing of the building.

4.2 Angus Council, at its meeting on 3 November 2022 (Report 364/22) considered the latest update to the ANGUSAlive transformation programme. The paper set out a range of measures whereby ANGUSAlive would assess the portfolio of services and start operating some of their services differently to achieve the significant proposed budget cuts and ongoing sustainability.

4.3 A paper detailing the ANGUSAlive transformation programme, budget savings and 2023 business plan was presented to the Special Angus Council meeting held on the 2 March 2023 (report 53/23) Reference is made to Paragraph 5, point 17 of the minutes of this meeting. At that meeting Council agreed as follows: “notes and approves the recommendations as set out in Report 53/23 as submitted jointly by the Director of Finance and the Director of Strategic Policy, Transformation and Public Sector Reform relating to ANGUSalive Charges Review & Budget Settlement 2023/24, subject to the following additional wording to recommendation 1.1 – ‘subject to ANGUSalive adhering to the change process already agreed’”. 3.2 Reference is also made to Report 364/22 agreed by the Council at its meeting on 3 November 2022, which considered the latest update to ANGUSAlive’s transformation programme and agreed to engage communities to explore opportunities for involvement in service delivery be they libraries, museums, or town halls to see these valued services continue to thrive.

4.4 Engagement sessions were held in each area where the properties are located and community organisations were invited to attend. The Community Council and forty-two community groups that had frequently used the Arbroath Community Centre were invited to attend the sessions in Arbroath. Seven groups, along with a few other new interested parties, Voluntary Action Angus and the Community Council, were in attendance.

4.5 At its meeting on 29 August 2023, the Policy and Resources Committee (report 239/24) was provided with an update on the engagement sessions and asked to agree the proposal to develop Feasibility Studies for four properties, including Arbroath Community Centre. The Policy and Resources Committee on 3 September 2024 (Report 249/24) noted that £15,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), was allocated for a group to commission a feasibility study to understand if the service could be operated and the building managed by a community group.

4.6 In the case of Arbroath Community Centre, a further meeting was held with the interested parties, who were former community group users of the Arbroath Community Centre and the Community Council. There was no interest from one individual community group in taking on the building and service due to the size of the property and the financial sustainability. However, ‘Showcase the Street’ agreed to lead the feasibility study.

4.7 A robust feasibility study was conducted by the contracted consultant and during the community engagement carried out by the consultant, two further community groups intimated that they were interested in the property. Officers held a meeting with all three interested parties, resulting in two of the community groups collaborating to progress a business plan that could see them become the operator of the building and service and the ambitious redevelopment of the property

4.8 As per the previously agreed recommendation noted in 4.5 above, an information paper was provided to all members of the Communities Committee on 20 August 2024. This paper summarised the outcomes of the four feasibility studies for each former ANGUSAlive property and informed members that further work was still required with the interested party in each property.

4.9 The agreed change request process requires a decision on whether there is a need for the service to continue. Since the former service run by ANGUSAlive in Arbroath Community Centre was not sustainable, and since the building requires significant redevelopment, the emphasis has been placed on finding an operator that can deliver a robust, sustainable business plan and, at the same time, secure external funding to redevelop and maintain the property.

4.10 At its meeting on 3 September 2024, the Policy and Resource Committee considered projects submitted to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (Report 249/33). Members agreed on the allocation of £180,000 from the Communities and Place priority of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund towards works to Arbroath Community Centre roof to allow the building to be wind and watertight for any potential group interested in operating out of the property.