Peterborough councillor calls for investment in Thorney to keep services services as food back forced to close
Calls have been made to replace the provision of services at Thorney community centre elsewhere in the village.
Eye, Thorney and Newborough ward councillor has called for more investment into services in the village of Thorney.
The calls comes as Cllr Ormston is working closely with Erin Tierney, who has been forced to temporarily close the Thorney, Eye and Surrounding area Food Hub due to the closure of Thorney Community Centre.
The centre has been closed due to health and safety concerns, particularly black mould in the toilets.
The library has been allowed to stay open but the building has been deemed unsuitable for food preparation and storage.
With no alternative venue provided at this stage by the council, the food hub is going to have to halt operations.
Cllr Ormston has helped to get the volunteers more than the original two weeks to pack up their items but has now called for more investment into services in Thorney.
He said: “It is a real shame the food bank has had to pause for now but when you see the condition the building in, the decision is not a surprise.
“It is just such a shame that temporary accommodation could not be arranged for before it has come to this. We are still working though and hope to get them back up and running again.
“Erin is a fantastic organiser and she still runs ‘The Bread and Butter Thing’ which is a fantastic really well used food supply for families to provide them a weekly shop.
“We also have a food bank running out of the Duke of Bedford School so I really hope that users that need the service are covered but we need to get Erin’s Thorney and Eye and surrounding areas foodbank up and running again as soon as possible.
“There are wonderful facilities in Thorney that the council should be investing in to move these services, the food bank and the library and other entities to move into somewhere like the Bedford Hall.
“Thorney has the community centre building, it matters a lot to the community, it is a lovely building. My focus is on the services. Thorney is a rural area and it can’t lose it’s library and its community assets without the services being retained elsewhere in the village. It will be too damaging to the community.”
The food bank at Duke of Bedford school can be contacted via 01733 270243 or [email protected].
The community centre is on the council’s list of community assets that is it considering selling off, although the council has stressed that this is not the reason for its recent decision.
A meeting is being held with the parish council on Wednesday, 29 January to discuss the building.