Southville’s two Green councillors will today call on the mayor and the council to pledge support
for a well-loved community venue in Southville.
Faithspace is a former Methodist church on Stackpool Road in Southville, which has been used for community activities for many years. The venue was closed down a year ago and is now boarded up and starting to deteriorate. The Methodists intend to sell the building while the local community are campaigning for it to be retained for local community use, rather than just sold to the highest bidder.
Southville’s Green councillor Stephen Clarke has submitted a question to the Full Council meeting
on 15th December to ask the mayor for support in the campaign to keep Faithspace as a community venue. He said:
“We
are really short of community venues in Southville. We already have a
high density of housing,
and more houses are planned as the population in the ward continues to
increase. That’s why we need to keep what community venues we have to
ensure that Southville remains the vibrant and attractive community it
currently is.”
Southville’s other Green councillor, Charlie Bolton has also submitted a statement to the council
meeting, stressing the importance of Faithspace for the local community.
The
meeting follows a ‘love-bombing’ event of Faithspace at the weekend –
where nearly 100 local
people came to express their support for the former church by attaching
hearts to it, explaining why they think it is important.
Greens
have been lobbying for the building to be retained for community use
for many months. Councillor
Bolton submitted statements of support last winter, and he and
Councillor Clarke have lobbied the mayor, assistant mayor and officers
to take all possible steps to support the community in their campaign to
save this community space.
STATEMENT FROM December 2015: FaithSpace building (Southville Methodist Church)
Faithspace is a much loved part of the Southville community scene.
As local councillors for the ward of Southville, we
would like to congratulate the significant numbers of people who turned
up on a December Sunday afternoon to express their support for
Faithspace. Local people of all ages expressed their
support for the venue by leaving messages of support in the shape of
hearts on the building. They have made it very apparent how important
the building is to the local community.
Residents have made it clear that they want to see
the building retained for community use. Local councillors also want the
building retained for community use.
It has been a struggle to get the Methodist church
to engage with the local community locally, and it seems clear that they
intend to sell the building to the highest bidder. This is a real pity.
We therefore ask the mayor to take what steps he
can to support the community of Southville, including talking to the
recently formed campaign – and help us save Faithspace for community
use.
STATEMENT FROM December 2014
Faithspace, Stackpool Road, Southville
As Labour and Green Party councillors for Southville, we jointly submit the following statement.
Faithspace is the former
Methodist Church on Stackpool Road. It lies between the Southville
Centre and Southville Primary School.
It has been a community venue
for as long as people can remember. Users, however, have recently been
stopped from using it, and the venue has recently been boarded up.
There has been a significant
increase in the population of the Southville ward over recent years.
This has resulted in an increase in the pressure on local resources and
infrastructure. For example, there is a serious
shortage in nursery provision in the area.
There is significant local concern over the closure of Faithspace. It has been registered as a 'Asset of Community Value'. There is a local petition in support of its retention
as a community venue.
We have no knowledge of plans
for its future. However, there has to be a possibility that it will
lost as a community venue. We believe we simply cannot afford to lose
community venues in our local area. We urge the
council and the mayor to take whatever actions it can to help ensure it
remains as a venue for the benefit of the community of Southville as a
whole. In particular, we ask that the council do all it can to protect
its current planning use
Sean Beynon (Labour Party Councillor, Southville)
Charlie Bolton (Green Party Councillor, Southville)
