'Heartbreak' over Meriden Club closure (From Watford Observer)

'Heartbreak' over Meriden Club closure

10:58am Wednesday 8th February 2012 in News By Mike Wright

The former manager of the Meriden Club has described its closure as "heart-breaking", after Watford Borough Council ousted him from the building.

Kevin Gibbons, who ran the club since 2004, was unable to successfully fight the council’s move to evict him and moved out of the club in Garsmouth Way last week.

The facility is now due to be turned over to the Watford FC Community Sports & Education trust, which will set out its plans for it later this month.

The removal of the bar comes after a acrimonious battle with the council over tenancy.

Mr Gibbons said: "To be honest, it was heart-breaking."

"It was not a bar really, it was a social club and there were a lot of young families around here who used it.

"I have never seen so many grown up people cry. It meant that much to them."

Mr Gibbons took over the bar in the community centre in 2004 agreeing a five-year lease with the council.

In 2009 the association was granted another five-year lease, but the council offered him a lump sum to leave early so the Watford FC trust could take over the centre.

He refused and was given six months’ notice leaving it until January to vacate the centre.

Mr Gibbons fight to stay in the centre was backed by a city law firm Nabarro, which looking into to the case for the bar.

Watford Borough Council said the Watford FC Community Sports & Education Trust, which promotes the academic, sporting and social development of young people, would be outlining its plans for the club later this month.

The Meriden bar will be the last of previously council-run community centres to be handed over to outside organizations to run.

Last year Watford Borough Council struck deals with Watford CVS, Watford YMCA and Watford Community Housing Trust to take over community centres in the town.

Watford’s elected mayor, Dorothy Thornhill, said the Watford FC Community Sports & Education Trust, would be moving in as soon as possible.

She said the trust's plans for the centre would open it up for the benefit of all people living in Meriden and further afield.

"I understand their (the Meriden Bar Association’s) concerns and frustrations, but in the end it is very important that we get the full use out of the community centres for all people.

"The trust can apply for funding that the council can’t.

"It will bring in funding to do up the centre and for the kind of activities they run which will benefit a wider range of the population."