HDT take possession of Headingley Primary
About the same time we set up Camberwell in 2006, a group of us established Headingley Development Trust .
We set up clubs, bought a shop, established a farmer’s market, undertook two successful community share issues of £100k each and recruited 900 members and have started a community orchard project, but the big prize took 5 years to pull in.
Last week we took hold of the lease and started the refurbishment work on the old primary school to turn it into the Headingley Enterprise and Arts Centre (HEART) with the £1.1m we managed to raise.
We’ve got a fantastic cafe operator lined up and the energy around the community, conference and events space (Heartbeat) and business network (Pulse) is great to feel.
HEART will open in December and we’re sure it’s going to make a great impact.
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CONGRATULATIONS
Well, that took a while – to reel in the old school I mean – and that despite Headingley Development Trust having a remarkably heavyweight set of members and board.
I will be back in Leeds for a few weeks around Christmas and look forward to dropping in to see that final result. It does seem an age since it all started and I see that despite the derision from some quarters it proved impossible to shake off the HEART name.!
When the dust settles it would surely benefit a lot of other commiunities if they could read about your experience and be prepared for the war of attrition that achieving something like this seems to involve.
At least as important, I wonder if it would be possible to do a critical review of the process in relation to the Council’s objections and issues along the way; the difference between the political will on the one hand and the bureaucratic impedimenta on the other. In addition perhaps a financial appraisal covering what it would have cost the Council to do something like HEART by itself and also some comparative social accounting based evaluations of the costs and benefits of HEART as against say redevelopment as a block of flats.
Is the council interested interested to undertake a joint seminar on lessons learned so that if any other community is foolhardy enough to set off on a 5 year trek their experience might not be so difficult? No doubt you will have thought about all of this.
Will there be a bar in there – if there is to be I am sure it will have some excellent real ale.
In any event – congratulations to all concerned – a major achievement and a
tribute to perseverance on the strength of a clear and worthwhile vision.
Alan