The Corstorphine Community Centre at 5 Kirk Loan is to be transferred in a Community Asset Transfer as confirmed by councillors earlier this week.
On Tuesday The City of Edinburgh Council approved the sale of Westfield House to the local charity Corstorphine Community Centre (CCC).
Cllr Mandy Watt, Finance and Resources Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “It’s great that we agreed the community asset transfer of Westfield House to Corstorphine Community Centre yesterday. As a Council we are always looking to support and encourage community empowerment and this latest transfer is one of a number we have carried out in the past couple of years.
“The Community Centre put forward a really detailed and community-focused bid for the building which will now be brought back into use and offer a wide range of activities, promote health-wellbeing and ensure social interaction for local disadvantaged groups. This is a real win for the area and will be an important community hub for the citizens of Corstorphine.”
The application for the sale of the site was made under The Scottish Government’s Community Asset Transfer Scheme.
CCC has been based in the building and operating a community Hub since June last year, with a lease granted by the Council, but the welcome decision means that plans to make the whole building accessible, and a flexible resource for the community to use are much nearer.
Chairperson, Shulah Allan, said “We are delighted that the council sees the benefit to the community of a local Hub. By agreeing to the sale the council is helping to bring to fruition our plans to develop Westfield House and its grounds. It’s been a ten-year journey to get to this point, and our thanks go to the community for all the support given to CCC in so many ways since the fire in 2013”.
The next step is a decision by the Scottish Land Fund on an award towards the £1.1 million purchase of the premises. This will be added to the funds that CCC have raised and will spend on the purchase and necessary refurbishment of the building. A decision on this grant is expected by the end of May.
www.corstorphinecommunitycentre.org.uk
