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.
And being next to an existing area used for recreation would be a benefit too.
What benefit is an Arts Centre to the average West Berkshire taxpayer? In this time of austerity and cutbacks do you think an arts centre, which will cater for a small minority, will be acceptable? Especially as it is proposed to concrete over a large part of Victoria Park and place a glorified wooden shack on it!
Greenham Park would be far more acceptable as there is the possibility of parking in the grounds if planned correctly. If we must pander to the Newbury Few, those who must be obeyed, then Greenham Park would be far preferable if there is money to waste I am sure.
What benefit is an Arts Centre to the average West Berkshire taxpayer? In this time of austerity and cutbacks do you think an arts centre, which will cater for a small minority, will be acceptable? Especially as it is proposed to concrete over a large part of Victoria Park and place a glorified wooden shack on it!
Greenham Park would be far more acceptable as there is the possibility of parking in the grounds if planned correctly. If we must pander to the Newbury Few, those who must be obeyed, then Greenham Park would be far preferable if there is money to waste I am sure.
I'm not sure that an arts centre is for the benefit of a minority. The title "Arts Centre" does tend to make it appear to be a stuffy elitist type of venue but that depends on who runs it. I would suspect that the average Sun reader would not be too interested but that is no reason to dumb down the rest of the population. Whatever type of arts centre Newbury needs and the fact that WBC are hell bent on putting one in Victoria Park, mainly I suspect to curry favour with the New Greenham Trust, indicates that we must have such a place. If that is the case, then the Greenham House spot sounds to me like the ideal location.
New Greenham Trust have shedloads of money to dish out and we mustn't forget that the fat salary people who run it are beholden to us the ratepayers as the trust is in fact only there because the land purchased back by the council from the ministry was donated/loaned to NGT and we are only getting what we are entitled to in terms of their so called generous grants. It is a trust for the benefit of West Berks and I might believe some of North Hants as they have to bear the brunt of some of the activities on and off the site including HGVs trundling through their inadequate A339 to the M3 and the link across the Newtown common to the A34. So, an arts centre could well come within the NGT budget and which funds can be diverted from that promised for the pavilion in the park.
WBC are not attempting to curry favour with NGT by putting an arts centre in Victoria Park - they are merely jumping at the opportunity to find some funding and a credible community use for a building they have been conned into thinking they must have as part of the Vision. NGT are not pushing to build in the park, they probably don't mind of the arts centre is in the park, on the wharf, behind the museum, behind the library, in Greenham House or wherever - as long as they get it out of Greenham Common and can redevelop the New Greenham Arts site.
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