I enjoyed meeting with residents at Cobham Centre for the Community to discuss the closure of community centres across Elmbridge. As Elmbridge Borough Council has reopened Cobham Centre five days a week, as opposed to most of the centres across Elmbridge only recently being open two days a week, many people are travelling across the borough to attend Cobham Centre whilst their local centres remain closed.
The residents at Cobham are very concerned about the crisis afflicting community support services, especially in light of the 2020 audit report as “Staff Supervision and Training” – the precise reason the Council gave for closing the centres in November 2023 – was identified as needing “major improvement” back in June 2020. You can read the report here.
The people at Cobham Centre indicated strong support for our calls to Elmbridge Borough Council asking them to:
- Issue an apology to community centre users, staff and volunteers for the failure of the Liberal Democrat administration to maintain a sufficient service at community centres which, ultimately, resulted in their closure
- Guarantee all centres across the borough will fully reopen, with sufficient staffing delivering a ‘gold standard’ service
- Conduct a genuinely independent review into the level of service being provided at community centres, which is agreed on a cross-party basis at the Council
I will continue to fight on behalf of our local community to ensure Elmbridge Borough Council delivers a safe and full service at our community centres. You can read more about what we’re doing to hold the Council to account here.
