Edinburgh community centres set to stay shut until October

COMMUNITY centres in Edinburgh are likely to stay shut until at least October because of the precautions required due to Covid.

But officials have been told to work with management committees to see if limited use can be allowed earlier than that for projects like local food distribution.

In May food and equipment was taken from temporary storage tents being used at Magdalene Community Centre in the grounds of Brunstane Primary School while volunteers were unable to use the centre to prepare food parcels for those in need.

Officials said there was unlikely to be a single date when community centres could all expect to open and different centres would follow different timelines, with some able to open more quickly than others.

But their “best guesstimate” was it would be October before there was “some limited opening of some of those buildings across the city”.

Council chief executive Andrew Kerr said the council’s plans were having to change constantly to reflect the stages of the pandemic. “The reason we can’t be sure about dates us the dates and assumptions and changing on a weekly basis depending on the health situation.”

Kate Campbell, SNP councillor for Portobello/Craigmillar, said she had been frustrated at trying to get answers about why management committees at community centres in her ward were not being permitted access.

She said: “What we’re talking about is limited access, it’s not about being open to the public, it’s about having a very small number of people able to access the centres to carry out really important activity.

“At Magdalene we have food distribution, which is lifeline for the community. At the Jack Kane they are wanting to work with young people around transition to secondary schools.”

She said she had been trying to get answers for weeks and asked for an assurance that officials would engage directly with management committees to see what was possible.

“What they are trying to do is to support council aims and objectives of supporting our communities. They are doing a lot of work themselves and it feels like we are not supporting them in the way we could.

”If not everything they have asked for is possible that’s understandable but I hope we can find a way to approach this as constructively as possible.”

Labour’s Donald Wilson said: “Community centres perform a vital role which has never been made more clear than in this present crisis. I understand there is a balance, but I think there is a real imperative to get some of these functions up and running as fast as possible.”

And Green Alex Staniforth said: “All we want is for those few community centres who have specifically asked for it to be able to act to benefit their community.”

The policy and sustainability committee backed a Green call for officials to work with management committees, specifically the Jack Kane and Magdalene, to allow restricted access to support community projects, subject to public health and legal requirements.