A government minister has praised a scheme in Northampton which has involved the borough council handing over control of community centres in the town to local groups of volunteers.
In the last two years Northampton Borough Council has transferred ownership of 21 community centres to local groups, including Community Spaces, which now runs nine centres in the town.
Don Foster MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, yesterday visited Rectory Farm and Vernon Terrace Community Centres to see how local groups are taking on the management of community centres and bringing them back to life.
Mr Foster said he believed that local ownership had increased the amount of people using their community centres in Northampton and it was an idea which could be rolled out across the whole country.
He said: “Part of my role is to empower communities and help them to take control of issues that affect them.
“What we are seeing in Northampton is buildings that were under used or derelict can be regenerated by committed local volunteers.
“This is beginning to happen across the country. This is not just about saving money but is about having better quality services for more people.
“If you get the people who really care about the issue involved rather than having a project run by a remote bureaucrat you can see the difference it can make. You can see that example in Northampton.”
Toby Birch, chair of Community Spaces, which runs nine community centre in Northampton, said he believed the volunteers provided a better service than the council.
He said: “We feel that we have links with groups in the local community on a much more day-to-day basis.
“Being a smaller organisation means we are more easily contactable and we can make things happen and we have got a number of new groups using the community centres.”
Chris Berridge, treasurer of the Rectory Farm residents’ association, said she believed “more has happened in the past 12 months than in the past nine years under the borough council.”
She said: “Community Spaces are really passionate about improving the centre and the community is much more engaged and excited about using it.”
The visit concluded with a trip to the Guildhall to find out how the Localism Bill is being used through Neighbourhood Planning and bringing local people into the planning process.
Councillor David Mackintosh, leader of Northampton Borough Council, said: “The community groups are able to access funding that the borough council may not have been able to do.
“You can see that in Rectory Farm wit the redevelopment programme and people are able to take more control and responsibilty for their neighbourhoods.”