THE ISSUE of what happens with the former Central Club building has attracted a good number of headlines in the last few weeks.

The distinctive mural which borders the building remains a key landmark for Reading and a strong symbol of the black community, its history and its contribution to our town.

We are all proud to live in a multi-cultural town and to celebrate and mark the distinct heritage of people from diverse backgrounds.

As a council we love the distinctive mural and all it represents. We are clear that whatever happens to the building in the future, the mural itself will be preserved for future generations.

The mural is showing signs of deterioration, but next month the council will begin work to have it professionally cleaned and surveyed.

We wouldn’t be investing in the mural in this way, if we weren’t serious about our commitment of preserving it for the future.

Reading Borough Council has a long and proud track record of supporting and working with all the diverse communities in the town from all backgrounds.

In 2009, the council backed a bid by the African and Caribbean Community Group to bring the former Central Club building back into community use.

Despite a tremendous effort on their part - and a time extension granted by the council – they were unfortunately unable to raise the necessary funds. The building has been empty and unused since.

There continues to be some inaccurate perceptions around Aspire’s original bid for the building. I want to reiterate, no cash sum was offered by Aspire to buy the property.

Despite requests by the Council to Aspire to waive confidentiality on its bid, this was been refused by Aspire and the council has been informed it will be reported to the Information Commissioner if it makes full details of the bid public. I regret this as I think it would be helpful for the public to know the contents of the bid.

Reading Chronicle:

Council leader Jo Lovelock

I also want to set the record straight on the process we have gone through in terms of the future of the building.

The Council took the decision in July not to proceed with any of the third sector bids received for the property at that time and instead offer it on the open market and ask the current bidder to carry forward their bid into this second round.

At a time when Government funding for Reading will have been cut by over £55million by 2019 and demand for public services is growing, I hope people appreciate we owe it to the council tax payer to understand the full value of the property, what people are willing to pay for it and to compare these bids with ones which make offers to keep elements for community use. We have asked Aspire to update or confirm their bid as part of this completion so we can consider it alongside other alternatives.

Let me repeat, however, all bidders - including community, voluntary or not-for profit groups - can either carry forward their existing bids, or put in a fresh offer as part of this process.

All offers will then be fully evaluated and this would take account of any community value, as well as the financial offer itself.

While it may be convenient for some to suggest that the mural will disappear as part of this process, the council is quite clear that it expects any offers received in the next round to include proposals to secure the future of the mural.

People need to know the council is on the side of all in the local community in wishing to retain this culturally important work of art.