Baker Street options

It was good to see Bernadette Kelly taking time to write to the Express about our project, Baker Street Paisley.

Unfortunately, we can’t find any record of Bernadette contacting us or asking questions directly.

We’ve had so much interest and can only apologise if we’ve missed her question.

Thank you Bernadette for your interest and agreeing what a difference Baker Street will make to Paisley and Renfrewshire.

She asked:“How will Baker Street be funded?”and “Who pays?”

We are now working closely with our partners, Renfrewshire Council and others to develop a full and robust business and operational plan for Baker Street.

It would therefore be premature to rule in or out any option at this stage as a precondition for progress, although it is not – and never has been – our expectation that the council fund Baker Street to the detriment of other services.

Our intention is, and our initial projections indicate, that with the right plan and programming, we are confident in the ability of Baker Street being self-sustaining with all profits / surplus being reinvested back into the project.

As a charitable trust – this is a really important point – all profits go back into the community, not to some overseas parent company.

Along with the new leisure-led arts and cultural focus, this will allow us to invest in local training, volunteering and employment opportunities across all aspects of Baker Street, encouraging new local start-up companies to run aspects of the venture. It’ll be a real, live working and training environment too.

There is a lot of work to do and we are determined to face the challenge head on, building on everyone’s support to turn plans into reality.

In closing, we would ask if Bernadette or anyone else would like to ask anything or get involved and help, then contact us through our Facebook and Twitter accounts. Trustees Paisley Community Trust