Fresh hope of building facility for community

PLANS to build a new community centre in Monifieth could be back on the table.

The Monifieth Community Resource Group (MCRG) suffered a huge setback in March when a £1 million request to the Big Lottery Fund to refurbish Invertay House was rejected.

The former school building was earmarked to be turned into a multipurpose centre to hold sports and community events.

Angus Council had most recently used the premises to process benefit inquiries, but agreed to the community asset transfer in August last year.

Jean Lee, chairwoman of MCRG, said: “Before Invertay House was declared surplus to requirements by Angus Council, and we began the whole process, we had done a huge amount of work on the potential development of a community hub on land beside the Blue Seaway. We were at the stage of being ready to apply to the Big Lottery for funding. Our plans were well advanced and we were very enthusiastic about them.

“However, the decision was made to shelve those plans and pursue the option of Invertay House because it was accepted it had always been first choice of building by the community.”

However, £2m was needed to realise the ambition, and with the Big Lottery grant application having been turned down, the MCRG is now considering the previous plan to build a brand new facility in the Blue Seaway park area, near to the waterfront, in conjunction with Monifieth Athletic FC.

Jean said: “The Blue Seaway option is now again our best option.

“We can have a fit-for-purpose building in a magnificent setting – a building that provides for local groups, community events and individuals who just want to have somewhere to socialise, an activities space that will ensure the viability of the whole community project.

“Monifieth needs this building and we are ready again to start work on making it happen. We have had very positive preliminary discussions with Monifieth Athletic to take this forward as a joint project.

“They had ambitions to create a sports hub down at the riverfront and we had always shared the understanding that we would support them in this ambition after we had secured our community centre. To ensure that Monifieth gets the best that’s possible we will work together in the spirit of joint compromise.”