A COMMUNITY group hoping to take charge of the neglected Central Club building has slammed lead councillors for 'failing to follow a fair process' after submitting a £10m bid.

Aspire, the legal entity established by the Caribbean Action Group (CAG), is believed to be one of four community groups to have submitted a bid to Reading Borough Council (RBC).

The council's Policy Committee revealed the building and iconic Black History mural was to be put on the open market to maximise the value of the site on July 17.

Keith Kerr, chairman of Aspire, says his group presented a self-funded bid to RBC at a time of dire need for private investment and does not believe their proposal was considered seriously.

He said: "They continue to preach about budget pressures and insist the site must be retained for community use; we are offering a fully funded £10m bid, the council would not have to pay a penny and the building would be for community use.

"We have complied with the bidding process they set out, but they have not. They said if no successful bids are made the building will be put on the open market.

"They said this would be determined through a scoring system and we made sure we were above and beyond their system."

Reading Chronicle:

Mr Kerr says the £10m bid would have been funded entirely by CAG borrowing, with an additional £2m for a community hub with affordable housing.

He believes third-sector groups were expected to fall short of the council's expectations and were wrong-footed when Aspire mounted a convincing case.

The proposal was supported by 20 recognised community groups and organisations, but Aspire representatives believe the council was always looking towards the private sector instead of community groups after a section of the iconic mural was damaged.

Mr Kerr added: "I do not want RBC to change their mind. I want them to admit that they agreed to follow a fair process and have failed to do so.

"We made a convincing and self-funded bid and now they are saying we were not successful.

"We are not even bothered by the fact that they are no longer offering £220k toward the development. We were willing to fund this project and they were caught out by the community coming together as one."

RBC have been approached for comment.