Greenham House celebration event – Friday 26 August
A special celebration is being held to mark the significant role one Newbury building has played in the lives of many families over the past 35 years.
Greenham House has most recently been home to some of West Berkshire Council’s Children’s Services and before that it was used as a Family Centre by the charity NCH.
Such a long history means there are generations of local people who have fond memories of the building and the staff who worked there. They are all welcome to attend the celebration fete in the house and gardens on Friday 26 August between 2pm and 4.30pm. There will be lots of fun family activities to enjoy. Visitors will also have the chance to look around the building and gardens, and share their recollections.
Irene Neill, West Berkshire Executive Councillor for Children and Young People said: “I hope that lots of the families who have been supported over the years from this building will find the time to come along to this celebration. It is also a good opportunity for new families to attend and find out about the range of services available in West Berkshire.”
The event will mark the end of an era as Greenham House is now being offered for sale. Support for families in need will now be offered from York House, Andover Road in Newbury.
My memories and I suspect those of a good few children of that time, were not so pleasant . Miss Adey who was on the ground floor was the school dentist. It's no wonder people have a phobia about visiting the dentist after a session with her.
The NWN site says WBC intend to offer this on the open market (imminently?), which seems a bit presumptuous as the government's Localism Bill is due to gain in the next few months. This means that if any local organisations/charities/individuals wish to use it, they can bid for it BEFORE it goes on the open market.
A couple of weeks ago Benyon said "We are putting the people back in charge, giving them the power to step in and save their much-loved community assets."
Are WBC trying to get this one flogged to a developer before the law changes? Is this another sign of WBC being anti-big society? Or are they just thick?
Anyone got any ideas what to do with this building? A children's charity would be ideal, but then there's the unsafe traffic fumes to consider. There's a bit more to this too that Newbury Town Council lease Greenham House Gardens from WBC (I think), so there's an opportunity to force them to give it back so a local group can look after it.
Hence putting it on the market now!!! To beat the system, like they did with the racecourse planning application before the new LDF was to come in (they also wrongly presumed the LDF was legal!). If they had waited for a new LDF, the racecourse would need a minimum of 35% affordable housing. By doing the application a few months earlier, they got a reduction. It would seem that by putting Greenham House on the market now, new legislation will not apply to that building when it comes into force as it was on the market at the time the bill was voted on.
Hence putting it on the market now!!! To beat the system, like they did with the racecourse planning application before the new LDF was to come in (they also wrongly presumed the LDF was legal!). If they had waited for a new LDF, the racecourse would need a minimum of 35% affordable housing. By doing the application a few months earlier, they got a reduction. It would seem that by putting Greenham House on the market now, new legislation will not apply to that building when it comes into force as it was on the market at the time the bill was voted on.
It does seem that West Berkshire have a special department set up to take advantage of sidestepping/avoiding current/future legislation.
Probably administerd by user23 as another of his onerous duties. Can we invent a name for this department?
Isn't the problem that there is no money available for the upkeep of council assets like this?
Well if 3 car parks cost £1, then what value is Greenham House.
From the WBC statement, they haven't thought it through. As we don't know about the condition of the property (it seems prone to surface flooding?), the most likely scenario is for it to be demolished for flats. This is in a polluted zone, which needs a 10% cut in traffic fumes (effectively a lorry diversion as discussed here.) http://www.newbury.net/forum/m-1311883541/
Surely difficult to hand planning permission for that.
A Big Society approach would see the council considering what the problems we wish to address (traffic congestion being the Newbury public's top concern) and for WBC to utilise it's assets to deal with the problem.
How can Greenham House help? What about using the gardens for a car-sharing operation. Maybe they could all be hybrid cars, with Spokes offering something for cyclists? This could be set up as a not-for-profit, with Greenham Trust backing. Zero cost to taxpayers, cleaner and greener for WBC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zipcar
And being next to an existing area used for recreation would be a benefit too.
I see your ploy, we agree with you and then you come back and say"Like Victoria Park". It won't work, the proposal would not take up one square inch of Greenham Park turf.
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