Community leaders in South Bristol say they are ready to take on a now empty former youth club and bring it back into use – but have been ghosted by the city council for months.
Members of the Newquay Road multi-agency partnership, and those running the Eagle House social club, say they have local tradespeople ready and waiting to undertake what is thought to be more than £200,000 of work to restore the former Eagle House Youth Club building, which has been at the centre of a row between people in Knowle West and the city council for years.
The youth club closed around 15 years ago, and in 2016, council chiefs signed a ten-year lease with a controversial African church, who took on the building. The lease expired back in early May and they moved out, leaving community leaders pleading with council chiefs to repair the building and hand it back to them, so they can use it as a community hub and youth club once again.
Long term, Bristol City Council raised the possibility that both the youth club building and the social club next door could be demolished and the whole site built on in a development that could include a new social club, community centre and youth centre – but there have been no concrete proposals put forward as yet.
Bristol Live reported back in early May that local residents were concerned that the building would be left empty and vulnerable if the council did nothing, and Bristol City Council said back then that meetings were taking place and decisions were being made about the building’s future.
Members of the Newquay Road Multi-Agency Partnership, which is made up of local residents’ associations, police, councillors, doctors and school leaders, accessed the building just as the church was moving out, to assess the work that needed doing.
The council itself has estimated that it would take a minimum of more than £200,000 to make the building useable again – money which the local residents say the council should make the church organisation pay, to abide by the terms of their lease.
Picture taken inside the former Eagle House Youth Club, by members of the Newquay Road Multi-Agency Partnership, as the leaseholders of the building were preparing to move out.(Image: Bristol Post submitted)
Now, Carol Casey, the chair of the partnership, has called on the council to act – and handover the keys. But Ms Casey said they have had no reply to regular emails to the council.
A letter the agency partnership sent to council leader Tony Dyer said she was writing ‘as a matter of urgency’.
“We have alerted the council previously to the unacceptable situation with the Mountain of Fire Church, who occupied the building. Promises were not kept,” she said.
“They have now fully vacated the building, but of course have not met their repairing and maintenance obligations, and may well have left unpaid bills,” she added.
“Specifically we wrote to you on 6 May but have not received a reply of any sort, the outgoing church told us that they have been told the building will be demolished.
“That, of course given the situation in the community, would be totally unacceptable. you told the BCC that you are working with the community,” she added.
Carol Casey outlined a three-point plan that the local community in Knowle West is demanding the council undertake – handover the keys to the building back to the community. “We have responsible bodies and are anxious that if left vacant, vandalism will occur,” she said.
“We can provide security . We sincerely hope that encouraging vandalism is not the council plan,” she added.
The second action would be a report from the council on what work needs to be done to the building before it can be used again. “We have a list of local professionals who are happy to do the work for little or no pay for the benefit of the community,” she added.
The former Eagle House Youth Club, now a church, in Newquay Road, Knowle West(Image: Bristol Post/Paul Gillis)
And thirdly, to work towards an asset transfer of the building, to the community. “Doing nothing is not an option here, so we expect a reply,” she added.
In May, the council told Bristol Live meetings were taking place to discuss the future of the former Eagle House Youth Club building.
On May 11, Councillor Tony Dyer, Leader of Bristol City Council, said : “Further discussions on the future of the building and analysis of potential options are needed before any proposals are progressed. We will continue to engage with the local community and interested organisations, and as soon as we’re able to offer clarity on next steps following the expiry of the current lease.”
With the building now left empty, and community leaders again asking for action, on Wednesday, June 3, we asked the council what would be happening to it. Late on Tuesday, June 9, a council spokesperson told Bristol Live: “We have received an approach from the local community expressing an interest in the building and are assessing the options for its future.
“We are keen to work with the local community and identify a solution for the building’s future now that it is vacant. The community can expect to receive an informed response from the council shortly,” she added.