Forum Topic

Labour proud over The Lampton Park Conference Centre

Councillor Ruth Cadbury, Deputy Leader of the Labour Group said:“The Conservative Group have always been ideologically opposed to the Lampton Park Conference Centre, and mothballed the building whilst they were in the Administration, thereby denying the Council four years of income for letting out the venue. It is not possible to put an exact amount on the money they have wasted in doing this, but it is fair to say that the Council have lost revenue through the Conservative’s failure to use the Conference Centre in the way it was intended. The Lampton Park Conference Centre is the only venue in the Borough of Hounslow able to seat up to 1,000 people, and it is ideally located because of excellent transport links that makes it the perfect site for conferences, weddings, community events, celebrations, and business and civic functions. It is also fully fitted out and equipped, and there have been expressions of interest by both private and business users about it. Developers of other sites in the Borough are considering incorporating a community facility in their plans, and we already have a brilliant facility that is up and runningNot to market this building to maximise its use, and therefore its income, is a total waste of taxpayer’s money, and we will do everything we can to ensure that the wonderful venue is fully available for all residents of the Borough to use”

David Hughes ● 5431d15 Comments

http://www.lamptonpark.co.uk/

Jim Lawes ● 3944d

http://www.lamptonpark.co.uk/,img src=http://www.masalacreations.com/images/1-pages/6venues/masala_6venues-lampton1.jpg>

Jim Lawes ● 3944d

The 2014 news seems to be that the Civic Centre and its attachments are to be moved nearer Hounslow Town Centre....subject to agreement.A new build opposite Yates will suffice apparently

Jim Lawes ● 3952d

I agree.  Surely the object of the exercise should be to charge private users a commercial rate which enables community groups (and I use that term very broadly and certainly in a sense that would incorporate Chris' group) to use the facility at an appropriate charge or even without charge?Hopefully this is something the new administration will get to grips with fairly soon.

Phil Andrews ● 5428d

The level of charges should be set to maximise usage,which in Chris's case sounds like it hasn't done.

Ian Speed ● 5428d

ChrisI am pretty sure that the Leader of the Council has the personal discretion to waive charges if needs be for outside bodies who wish to use the Annex so I am very surprised that such a well known and respected organisation such as yours was not brought to his attentionWell done to TFL though and I hope your conference goes well

Paul Fisher ● 5428d

ChrisI'm disappointed tooWhat were the charges quoted?

John Todd ● 5428d

In the knowledge that I am going to make myself incredibly unpopular (no change there then I hear you say) I tried to book the Annex for my Annual LGBT Conference, which brings in Senior Practitioners from across West London and beyond and would have been a great way of showcasing and advertising this wonderful space. Unfortunately the cost, even including a discount, was prohibitive for a small local charity. Further,including the "add ons" such as tecnical support and catering the cost would have taken over half my charities annual income for a one day event.I have expressed my disappointment to the Labour Group and have urged them to review this as soon as possible. Sadly, given the time taken to be given a decision on this I have had to rearrange the whole Conference. Thanks though to TfL who have offered me the use of a buiding in Hammersmith, including technical support totally free of charge.

Christopher Boucher ● 5429d

I should like to correct the assertion that the Civic Centre Annex was 'mothballed' during 2006-2010: far from it; many members of the public will have attended civic functions there as well as conferences and seminars.  I hosted  a conference on Health, a conference on Housing for local Landlords and on the Strategy for Housing to name but three.  It was a valuable resource and put to good use.As I recall the main problem with the Annex was that a) it had been built without a coherent business plan in place and that b) there were a number of technical problems with the build one resulting in a substantial flood of the building when it rained the first time after it was finished.The latter was corrected promptly but it seems that the former has not been rectified.

Jon Hardy ● 5429d

What an interesting comment.  Are you telling us that buying votes from sections of the community comprises the sum total of your party's ideology these days then Robin?  Time was when it drew on such noble concepts as socialism, or at least social democracy.I would still however like to read an intelligent response from somebody who doesn't seem to have a selfish personal interest in keeping the Labour Party in a state of perpetual conflict with a large section of the comnmunity in at least two strategically important wards within the London Borough of Hounslow.  Any takers?

Phil Andrews ● 5430d

"There was a general feeling across the coalition that its real purpose would be to use a publicly funded project as a means of buying political support from certain sections of the community because, let's face it, that it is what New Labour does."Well, Dave - there's your answer. The coalition WAS ideologically opposed to the building.

Robin Taylor ● 5430d

The Conservative group asked the Council to note:Councillor Cadbury has publicly stated:"We have instructed Council officers to fully market the Lampton Park Conference Centre (attached to the Civic Centre) for outside functions in order to maximise its full potential for generating income."In a report presented by Officers to the Executive on 27 July, amongst the comments made were:"There is currently no budget provision to meet this preparation of a business plan and the initial promotion of the Conference Centreas a venue] cost in 2010-11.""In order to put this proposal of a proper long term footing, it will be essential to prepare an up to date business case,""The report indicates that these costs may exceed the extra income generated. It will therefore be essential for the Council to identify savings in other 2010-12 budgets to offset this initial cost.""…members will need to consider very carefully the costs and benefits of alternative options before reaching a final conclusion on this issue. At this stage, the report does not provide detailed information about this.""In order to put this proposal of a proper long term footing, it will be essential to prepare an up to date business case""The costs of the new post are unfunded."Despite the above, amongst the Executive decisions were:"Immediately agree to promote the use of Lampton Park Conference Centre as a venue available for community and private lettings, for social events, conferences and exhibitions, at weekends and evenings, in addition to its present use for Council business."Agrees that a proper venue management regime will be put in place and agrees the appointment of a venue/events manager to promote/manage this business opportunity, reporting to the Assistant Director (Corporate Property & Project Coordination) in the Environment Department."This Council believes the Executive should review this decision and only proceed with it when:I. An up to date Business Case is complete;II. There is a clear forecast of when the break-even point will occur;III. It is clear that this makes financial sense.

John Todd ● 5430d

What an unfortunate and unnecessary tone to adopt David.  I was trying to be constructive.I agree with your second sentence though, however I think you'll find that is distributism rather than Marxism.  Have you never read Belloc or Chesterton?

Phil Andrews ● 5430d

Ha ha nice to see the conspiracy theories still run rampent on here.What I would like to see is that business use of the center genarates a profit that goes back into supporting community use and the profit again being use to help and support other community groups with small projects but that my own view and it maybe a bit too marxist.

David Hughes ● 5431d

DavidThank you for posting this up, as I think some debate on this would be useful to achieving a greater understanding of what motivated both the Labour administration of 2002-2006 to promote this project, and the subsequent coalition administration to take a different view.Ruth's statement (which is quite brilliant, did she really write it?) refers to the Conservative Group being "ideologically opposed to the Lampton Park Conference Centre".  Could you expand upon this?  How exactly can one be ideologically opposed to a building?  Or do you mean they are ideologically opposed to what had been its intended use, and if so how?When the coalition administration was being formed I can recall some discussion about the future of the Conference Centre.  There was a general feeling across the coalition that its real purpose would be to use a publicly funded project as a means of buying political support from certain sections of the community because, let's face it, that it is what New Labour does.However I do have to say that the coalition never really got to grips with the Conference Centre, and that whenever the respective feasibilities of the various options were appraised the original intended use invariably seemed to suggest itself very strongly.  Obviously, having made so many bold proclamations about how the Centre would not be put towards its original intended use, this option then had to be rejected regardless in order to save face.I have to confess - and this is a personal view, not necessarily an ICG view - that in retrospect I feel the coalition may have too hasty in dismissing outright the original plans for the Conference Centre.  I believe we were right to be suspicious about Labour's motives but to conclude from that that the building should not be used as a matter of principle for the purpose it was originally intended was perhaps a case of throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.  We could, I believe, have been more imaginative and perhaps a tad less dogmatic.I wish the new administration well with its plans for the Centre.  In my view it should be renamed the Lampton Park Community Centre, albeit with well-advertised conference facilities, to demonstrate the primary of community over commerce.  I also believe that, provided there is no legal impediment to doing so, some real community ownership should be introduced into the project rather than leaving it solely in council (political) control.Local people will, I suspect, be watching this how this project develops with some interest over the next few years.

Phil Andrews ● 5431d