Written by:
Guest Author
By Jaina Patel
The third debate in our lively series took place in Newcastle on Tuesday 22 March at Northern Stage, we were fortunate to once again have a diverse and interesting panel of speakers who shared their thoughts and experiences on the subject.
Our panel of speakers were Christine Morrison, North East Coordinator, Community Matters, Tim Mosedale, Director, Mosedale Gillatt Architects, Tom Johnston, Trust Director, Glendale Gateway Trust and John Dawson, Treasurer and Trustee, Lemington Community Centre.
As with our previous debates in Edinburgh and Cardiff, the community representatives (John Dawson and Tom Johnston) provided frank and insightful accounts of their experiences when taking on the ownership of a refurbished and new build community building and talked about how trying to incorporate sustainable concepts were not as easy as they had anticipated.
Tim Mosedale (architect) shed light on the various issues architects face when taking on the development of a community building. It’s often seen as a ‘them’ and ‘us’ process and Tim was able to explore this area in more detail, explaining that this preconception is far from his way of working with community groups.
Christine Morrison, Community Matters, presented her views on the subject from a political perspective, exploring how the Coalition’s Big Society agenda, Localism Bill and cuts to local budgets will have a direct impact on the future of the community building.