Future of the Red Cross Centre in Barton Way is under threat!
The future of the Red Cross Centre in Community Way is under threat of being sold off for flats. This vital and historical community building, which has served Croxley for more than fifty years, is in real danger of being lost to our community.
The Centre was built in 1965/66 primarily to provide Croxley with a club and social centre for the elderly – the Welcome Club. On completion it was leased to the Red Cross until 2065 for that purpose together with the provision of other services such as Mobility Aids. The cost was funded by a combination of local authority grants, the Red Cross, and public subscription. When not required by the Club or Red Cross the building was let out to local clubs and community groups. The Red Cross discontinued such external use in 2019.
In the Three Rivers draft Local Plan published on 11th June the Centre and car park have been designated for housing development – a new community hall with six flats above – with the development on an 11 -15 year timescale. This is contrary to the objectives set out in the approved Croxley Neighbour Plan. Nothing is known about what would happen in that 11 – 15 years, nor how a new community hall would be run.
To help save the Centre Parish Councillor Chris Mitchell is spearheading an organised campaign with the Parish Council. The intention is for the Parish Council to be given the opportunity to manage the Centre for the benefit of the local community.
The Centre was built in 1965/66 primarily to provide Croxley with a club and social centre for the elderly – the Welcome Club. On completion it was leased to the Red Cross until 2065 for that purpose together with the provision of other services such as Mobility Aids. The cost was funded by a combination of local authority grants, the Red Cross, and public subscription. When not required by the Club or Red Cross the building was let out to local clubs and community groups. The Red Cross discontinued such external use in 2019.
In the Three Rivers draft Local Plan published on 11th June the Centre and car park have been designated for housing development – a new community hall with six flats above – with the development on an 11 -15 year timescale. This is contrary to the objectives set out in the approved Croxley Neighbour Plan. Nothing is known about what would happen in that 11 – 15 years, nor how a new community hall would be run.
To help save the Centre Parish Councillor Chris Mitchell is spearheading an organised campaign with the Parish Council. The intention is for the Parish Council to be given the opportunity to manage the Centre for the benefit of the local community.
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As part of the campaign Cllr Mitchell organised a demonstration that took place on Saturday 29th May outside the Red Cross Centre. There was a good attendance from a cross section of residents to show their support for safe guarding the centre. As part of the campaign an electronic petition has been raised by the Parish Council. You can sign the petition using this link http://chng.it/ZdwnTh2bgz. Please show your support by passing this link on to other Croxley Residents to sign as every signature counts towards TRDC Councillors taking notice!
Alternately you can sign a hard copy of the petition at the Parish Council offices in Community Way. Updated news is from the TRDC Local Area Forum which took place on Thursday 17th June Croxley District Councillors will meet with representatives from the Parish Council and the Residents' Association to discuss the Red Cross Centre's future. You can submit your objection to the propose redevelopment of the Red Cross Centre by responding to the TRDC Local Plan public consultation part 2 using this link bit.ly/LocalPlanConsultationPart2 Learn about the origins of the Red Cross Centre and Welcome club.
Below is a letter published in the Watford Observer newspaper letter to the Editor (7th June 2021) from ex treasurer of the Welcome Club Mike Collins which gives a detailed history of the origins of the Red Cross Centre and Welcome Club.
The letter reads:- Croxley Red Cross Centre As a Croxley Red Cross volunteer since 1981, Treasurer of the Welcome Club from 1981 until its transfer to Watford and Three Rivers Trust (W3RT) in 2016, and a Trustee of the Hertfordshire Branch of the Red Cross (HRC) from 1993 to 1996 I can explain the background to the current controversy over the future of the building |
Residents at the demonstration
Parish Councillor Mitchell & Brita Blackwell from the Welcome Club
(Photos provided courtesy of Cllr Mitchell) |
The Centre was built by Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) in 1965/66 on land owned by Rickmansworth Urban District Council (RUDC) designated for community use. This followed a consultation between the RUDC, HRC and HCC. The cost was just under £21,500 with the funding shared between RUDC, HRC, HCC and public subscription. On completion the building was leased to the British Red Cross national organisation (BRC) for 99 years at a fixed rent of £50 a year. The lease contains a number of covenants the most important being (1) that for the duration of the lease BRC use the building primarily as and for the purpose of a club and social centre for old people known as the Croxley Green Welcome Club and (ii) that for the duration of the lease BRC keep the building in good and substantial repair and condition and give it up in such condition on expiry of the lease. Other covenants restrict the non Red Cross purposes for which the building may be used. Management of the Centre was delegated to HRC and it was soon open six days a week from 10 am to 5 pm offering a variety of services. The hall was also in use most evenings. BRC was very proud of the Centre and it was featured in a three page article in the December 1970 issue of Nursing Times, a Red Cross publication. I have a copy.
In 1994 BRC began a process by which the various branches operating as separate charities under the national umbrella would be merged into a single charity. This process was known as “Unification” and completed in 1996. Also in 1994 BRC changed its policy on clubs for the elderly and the like and said that these would no longer be supported. HRC was instructed to transfer the Welcome Club to a separate organisation or, if this was not possible, to close it. In view of the lease covenants the HRC Trustees refused and after a review of the lease by the legal department the Welcome Club was allowed to continue as a Red Cross club.
From about 2005 BRC began to drastically cut support of the Welcome Club. In July 2016, after immense pressure from BRC, the Welcome Club members reluctantly agreed that the club be transferred from the Red Cross to Watford and Three Rivers Trust (W3RT). In practical terms they had no alternative. I was told in an email from a senior member of the BRC management team, and I quote, “As discussed previously the Red Cross no longer runs this type of club. The club will remain a main user of the building, as per the lease, and the W3RT will provide the support that is needed”. Other emails confirmed that Welcome Club use of the building would be free of charge. To me “as per the lease” means to expiration of the lease. Yet I understand that in May 2016 BRC was already talking to officials from Three Rivers District Council (TRDC) and W3RT about the possibility of W3RT taking over the building, but that TRDC terminated those discussions about a year later. I was told at the time, although I have no evidence, that this was because the possibility of development of the site for housing had arisen. Five years and no progress.
BRC clearly wants to terminate its lease early and according to Councillor Sokalski is asking for “a large sum” to give up its rights. In the past BRC has told me that giving the Welcome Club free use of the building together with operating the Mobility Aids service meets its liability under the covenants. I disagree. Of course there have been huge changes in society over the past fifty or so years and many of the services offered originally are no longer appropriate or required. Nobody disputes that. But it is reasonable to assume that if BRC had not changed its policy new services would have been developed to meet the needs of today. A dementia club perhaps offering activities and companionship to sufferers and a few hours respite for their carers. I know from personal experience that something like that is desperately needed.
For BRC to meet its obligations is a huge financial liability and I believe BRC should pay an appropriate penalty for release from those obligations. The only reason that BRC can suggest it be paid “a large sum” is that TRDC is considering housing development. Yet in the approved Croxley Neighbourhood plan the building is designated for community use so why change it? Government guidance, as I understand it, is that such a designation should only be changed in “material circumstances” although these are not defined. The government target for new housing in Three Rivers is 620 a year for 15 years ie 9,300 dwellings. Can six small flats really be considered as “material” in that context?
Croxley Parish Council (CPC) has offered to take over the building and run it for the benefit of the whole Croxley community but has received no response from TRDC. Why is that? Surely a joint TRDC/CPC feasibility study to look at the economics/management/logistics etc of a community centre would be a useful first step.
Mike Collins
In 1994 BRC began a process by which the various branches operating as separate charities under the national umbrella would be merged into a single charity. This process was known as “Unification” and completed in 1996. Also in 1994 BRC changed its policy on clubs for the elderly and the like and said that these would no longer be supported. HRC was instructed to transfer the Welcome Club to a separate organisation or, if this was not possible, to close it. In view of the lease covenants the HRC Trustees refused and after a review of the lease by the legal department the Welcome Club was allowed to continue as a Red Cross club.
From about 2005 BRC began to drastically cut support of the Welcome Club. In July 2016, after immense pressure from BRC, the Welcome Club members reluctantly agreed that the club be transferred from the Red Cross to Watford and Three Rivers Trust (W3RT). In practical terms they had no alternative. I was told in an email from a senior member of the BRC management team, and I quote, “As discussed previously the Red Cross no longer runs this type of club. The club will remain a main user of the building, as per the lease, and the W3RT will provide the support that is needed”. Other emails confirmed that Welcome Club use of the building would be free of charge. To me “as per the lease” means to expiration of the lease. Yet I understand that in May 2016 BRC was already talking to officials from Three Rivers District Council (TRDC) and W3RT about the possibility of W3RT taking over the building, but that TRDC terminated those discussions about a year later. I was told at the time, although I have no evidence, that this was because the possibility of development of the site for housing had arisen. Five years and no progress.
BRC clearly wants to terminate its lease early and according to Councillor Sokalski is asking for “a large sum” to give up its rights. In the past BRC has told me that giving the Welcome Club free use of the building together with operating the Mobility Aids service meets its liability under the covenants. I disagree. Of course there have been huge changes in society over the past fifty or so years and many of the services offered originally are no longer appropriate or required. Nobody disputes that. But it is reasonable to assume that if BRC had not changed its policy new services would have been developed to meet the needs of today. A dementia club perhaps offering activities and companionship to sufferers and a few hours respite for their carers. I know from personal experience that something like that is desperately needed.
For BRC to meet its obligations is a huge financial liability and I believe BRC should pay an appropriate penalty for release from those obligations. The only reason that BRC can suggest it be paid “a large sum” is that TRDC is considering housing development. Yet in the approved Croxley Neighbourhood plan the building is designated for community use so why change it? Government guidance, as I understand it, is that such a designation should only be changed in “material circumstances” although these are not defined. The government target for new housing in Three Rivers is 620 a year for 15 years ie 9,300 dwellings. Can six small flats really be considered as “material” in that context?
Croxley Parish Council (CPC) has offered to take over the building and run it for the benefit of the whole Croxley community but has received no response from TRDC. Why is that? Surely a joint TRDC/CPC feasibility study to look at the economics/management/logistics etc of a community centre would be a useful first step.
Mike Collins
