Locals get weeks to come up with community centre plan

Community groups and local clubs have six weeks to draw up a viable business plan to take over management of the Knocknacarra community centre – or ‘lose it’ to a commercial operator.

It is the first time Galway City Council has invited expressions of interest from the community to run a public amenity such as a community centre.

There has been widespread disgruntlement over the way the €3.4m facility has been run since it opened in mid-2013. The council has been in charge of the centre termporarily. Recently it advertised in the national media for commercial operators to tender for its management on a permanent basis.

In a notice to be advertised tomorrow, the local authority is calling for groups based in the Knocknacarra/Salthill area to submit their proposal to manage and operate the centre.

Any submission must contain a management proposal or business plan which shows the group’s experience in the facility management and their financial and staff resources.

“The business proposal [is] to achieve optimum cost effective management of the facility and growing the usage and income over the next two years, including cost proposal breakdown and payment terms,” according to the criteria set down.

Due to a shortage of staff and an embargo on recruitment, the parks department has only been able to open the centre five days a week – Wednesday to Friday, 2.30-10.30, Saturday and Sunday 10am-6pm.

The council had always stated that it did not have the resources to man it on a permanent basis even though it does manage other facilities in the city.

The possibility of the centre being taken over by a private company out to make big profits instead of giving local clubs and organisations access to the facilities at a minimal cost became a hot election issue. Residents had waited 20 years for it to be built and raised €300,000 towards its cost.

Newly elected Fine Gael Councillor Pearce Flannery said this was the first major step forward in solving the management crisis at the community centre.

“The issue of private management at the centre has not gone away. It is imperative that local community groups work together towards developing an effective solution and ensuring that the completed plan is tendered for properly and that the said solution can be executed properly,” he stated.

Read more in today’s Connacht Sentinel