Rothwell residents rally and urge Leeds City Council to hand turn unused centre over to them so they can turn it back into community hub
Rothwell residents rally and urge Leeds City Council to hand turn unused centre over to them so they can turn it back into community hub
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00:00I'm Leanne, the founder of the Pink Ladies. We raise money for charity and do local events and try and raise awareness.
00:07And I'm Natalie, a mum of four who lives on the estate, yeah.
00:11Can you just tell us where we are? It's looking a little bit sorry for itself.
00:16It's very sorry for itself, yeah.
00:18It could look so much better though, but we're outside the Roselund Centre on Jonagart.
00:22And as you can see, it's tired and weary, but lots of people love it.
00:27It's been shut for a little while, hasn't it? What was it used for before?
00:31A community centre, as far as I know. When I moved here nine years ago,
00:36I used to take my daughter to playgroup for probably about six months, maybe a year at the most,
00:41and then it closed down. It's just been sat in this estate since.
00:45And Leanne, what would you like to see used?
00:48Used for as many things as possible. We've got lots of plans, things in place.
00:54There's a kitchen, so we'd like to open that to raise some money.
00:58Boxing's been mentioned, that'd be good also.
01:01It's equipped for little children with little sinks and everything, so that's ready to go.
01:06As many things as possible, the list could be endless, and we're just ready to make it happen.
01:11Whereabouts are you in the process?
01:14Trying to get some answers from Leeds City Council at the moment.
01:17We've got no facts and figures to work from.
01:22We've put our proposals in and we've got a really good plan.
01:25We're just waiting for some feedback now.
01:28The estate want to help us get behind us to clean it, to paint it,
01:32and as you've seen yourself, it's a really good space.
01:35I get the impression that an awful lot of people would use the centre as well.
01:39Yeah, absolutely.
01:41And yourself, Natalie, what would you like to use it for?
01:44Again, there's so many things. I just think the whole community could benefit from.
01:49Obviously the building's got so much potential, there's so much space in there.
01:53We could have playgroups in there, youth clubs.
01:56Which is what used to be in there before.
01:58Services for the disabled, the elderly, training, adult learning.
02:04Yeah, the possibilities are endless really with the space.
02:07It is fully accessible as well, both from this side and the back as well,
02:10for anyone in a wheelchair or walking shoes or anything.
02:13And do you think it's a massive shame for the community that it has been shut for so long?
02:17Definitely. It's been shut for too long.
02:20It's just a crying shame. So many people want it to open again.
02:24I mean, I don't live here now, but I've been passionate about it for a long, long time.
02:28And there is nothing else, is there? There's nothing for anybody around here?
02:32And it's not just for use as a community centre.
02:35There's no public spaces to do anything that we could do in there.
02:40They've all gone.