5. CURRENT POSITION

5.1 Angus Council agreed to the change request from ANGUS Alive to cease operating the service provided in Arbroath Community Centre due to the financial investment required to bring the building back to a state of repair and the lack of sustainable income from the service offered. ANGUS Alive is the cultural and leisure operator for Angus Council. Therefore, Angus Council is not in a position to keep the building open and provide a similar leisure offering. ANGUS Alive has relocated services and provides venues for community use in their other facilities in the town. Research and discussion with the former users of the Arbroath Community Centre has identified that the majority are now using alternative venues within the community, an exercise has been carried out to identify all available space for hire in Arbroath and shows that there is adequate space available for any community group to hire which could accommodate a range of activities and capacities include rooms for meetings, hall hire and theatre/performance space.

5.2 Following approval from the Policy and Resources Committee as stated in para 4.5, officers have been exploring the potential of a new operator to deliver a similar but sustainable service. Angus Council officers and the interested operator, Shape Wellbeing Community Interest Company, have supported the abovementioned process. A community interest company (or CIC) is a special form of a non-charitable limited company. It exists primarily to benefit a community or to pursue a social purpose rather than to make a profit for shareholders.

5.3 The aim of this CIC is for to offer a community facility run by the community for the community. Plans are underway to engage and appoint additional local members to the group board. The interested operators have met with all previous users of the building who attended the engagement events to discuss community needs regarding the required space, as well as stakeholders such as the Angus Health and Social Care Partnership. They have also presented to the Community Council and have reached out to the Arbroath Town Board.

5.4 The proposal developed will focus on health and wellbeing as well as having space for former leisure centre users and new users to book the Community Centre for activities and sports. This will include a dance studio for dance groups, Pilates or yoga etc. Room on the ground floor will be bookable to groups for community group use; for example, discussions have taken place with the boxing club and a wheelchair basketball club. The plans include a cafe and a VR room for both young people, rehabilitation, and other uses, which can also be hired for parties. There will also be open bookable space for community groups to run additional activities. The proposal includes plans to incorporate a model for preventative health that will complement the Angus Community Wellbeing Centre – The Beacon that will be delivered from the former Access Office in Arbroath, opening in Spring 2025, with office and small rooms available for hire for health, wellbeing, and holistic health purposes.

5.5 The group has developed a financial and business plan based on projected income from hiring out the various spaces, cafe income, and external funding. They will work with Business Gateway to finalise this before submitting it as part of the lease conditions. Officers will ensure this is robust throughout lease negotiations. Discussions with potential funders are ongoing, but the group cannot submit funding applications without an agreement in principle regarding the lease of the building. There are risks to any group taking on a building of this size, redeveloping and maintaining it, hence the reason for ensuring that multiple sources of income from different activities and initiatives are in place and that a robust, sustainable business plan will be essential. It should be noted that the current group members do have the business experience to support this type of ambitious project and supplement their Board membership with a range of relevant specialisms from members of the community.