THERE are new fears over the future of Hubberston Community Centre, after it was revealed that vital changes to the centre’s management may no longer go ahead.

At an informal meeting at County Hall last Friday (March 27), local councillors and centre users were informed that a previous decision to transfer management of the centre to the Flying Start programme – thereby safeguarding it for the community it until 2017 – is no longer possible.

This is despite assurances by Cabinet in November that the switch would happen ‘no later than Easter 2015’.

A briefing paper prepared for the meeting last week said Flying Start had been ‘scoping out’ the works needed to make the centre suitable for use.

It goes on to say that work to convert part of the building into office space, along with extra IT requirements, phone line installation, and new furniture would cost more than £10,000. It also highlights the poor repair of the building’s roof.

The paper concluded that, after ‘initial scoping out of the project’, the proposal was not viable because Welsh Government capital grants for 2015-16 had already been allocated, and the proposal did not meet the ‘best use of funds’ criteria for revenue spend.

But Ceri Hawkings, supervisor at Little Acorns Playgroup, one of the centre’s biggest users, said this did not answer why the council had not looked into the building’s suitability earlier - before assurances were given.

“We’re very disappointed as we were led to believe the grant was in place,” she said.

“Up until last week we had no idea it was under threat so were going ahead with plans and looking forward to working with the Flying Start team.”

She said the centre served the community ‘from the cradle to the grave’, with everyone from WI and Ladies Glades groups to the town band using it, as well as the 50 families a week who use the playgroup.

She said the latest announcement was also of great concern to her staff, as they would need months of notice if they had to find new premises.

Local councillor Viv Stoddart, who has been among those fighting to keep the centre open, was also at the meeting on Friday.

Cllr Stoddart described the news as a “bombshell”.

“They made a pledge to our community, and to my mind, that pledge was cast iron,” she said.

A spokesman for the county council was unable to say why a full investigation into the viability of the proposal was not carried out earlier.

They added that the authority was now ‘working on possible solutions’, and assured centre users that the building would remain open in the meantime.

Asked what its involvement in the proposals was, a Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We have not received a formal request to invest in the Hubberston Community Centre in order to create a Flying Start Hub.

“Pembrokeshire Local Authority informally sought advice from us in early February 2015.

“At that time we advised, if we were to receive a formal request, they would need to demonstrate whether another Flying Start hub is needed in the community and whether it would be a cost effective option.”