Bath Place has two months to make case to stay

The Bath Place Community Venture future has once again been threatened with losing its current site at the Old Library on Avenue Road in Leamington Spa.

The community group has agreed to extend its lease at the site until Friday 27 July, and could potentially extend this further. Bath Place now has two months to make case to stay at the current site.

The group’s future has been uncertain since the landlord, Warwickshire College, proposed selling the listed building to develop luxury flats, in order to raise funds to refurbish its main site.

Student Council voted on Monday 16 May to mandate the sabbatical officers to lobby the University to reconsider Bath Place as a site for the Leamington Learning Space. Proposers Owen Everett and Kate Arnold cited the “extensive existing student involvement and association with Bath Place” in their resolution to the Student Council.

Owen Everett, a History finalist and Bath Place volunteer, commented: “It’s the best forum for student engagement with the Leamington community that there is.”

He also stated that, “the onus is now on the sabbatical officers. They should draw attention to the number of students already using Bath Place and the opportunity for further community engagement if it part of the building were used for the learning space.”

When asked about the resolution passed by Student Council, Clayton Denwood, the site supervisor at Bath Place, told the Leamington Courier: “It’s a great option because the building was built for educational purposes and if the University is looking for a space for students linked with the community, I can’t imagine a better future.”

He added: “It gives us time to develop a vision that’s better for Leamington, more in the interests of the community and everybody that uses the building.”

Kate Arnold, a Sociology student, who co-proposed the Student Council resolution, suggested how the future space could work, “there’s acres of space upstairs that could be used by students exclusively, whilst allowing the Community Venture to continue its vital operations downstairs and providing it with security of tenure.”

In addition, she explained the importance of the group, “it’s a vibrant hub that brings the whole community of Leamington together, from mental health services to affordable vegetarian food, yoga and burlesque! It’s incredibly varied and it’s only a shadow of what the centre could do for the community with the right funding.”

Oliver Holmes, a second-year Chemistry student, stated that: “Warwickshire College own the Old Library and paid for it themselves. If they want to sell it to developers, they are totally within their rights to do so. I’m sure Bath Place can find some other temporary measure until they can finally get somewhere permanent to use.”

Education Officer Sean Ruston has stated that the Students’ Union has offered to meet with representatives from the Bath Place Community Venture.

Ruston explained that “the policy mandates us to support the usage of Bath Place as a study space, should the University have to make a choice.”

When asked about the delays in finding a Leamington study space, he said: “As the site is off campus there are difficulties in how to support that space with staff and resolving issues over safety and security.”

According to Ruston, the University rejected the Creative Arches space, under the railway arches on Clemens Street, as an option because of security concerns.

A petition to keep the Bath Place Community Venture at the Old Library site has received 960 signatures.

The community group has been based at the Old Library since Warwickshire College offered the venture use of the site when a fire destroyed its former location at All Saints Primary School in September 2009.