Calls to stump up millions of pounds in funding to help rebuild an ailing sports and social club in a deprived area have been rejected by the government.
The Swanscombe Pavilion, once a hub for the local community, has sat empty for nearly two years while awaiting financial support, in the form of cash grants, to help refurb or rebuild it.
The Pavilion in Swanscombe as it stands now. Picture: Emma Ben Moussa
The latest rejection has prompted calls for Dartford council to step in and stump up the cash needed — but some critics say while it’s desperately needed, the lower-tier Swanscombe and Greenhithe Town Council has scuppered all aspirations to date with poorly hatched “back of a fag packet” plans.
It comes as last month the town council was told its application to the government’s Community Ownership Fund (COF) for help restoring the local sports club on The Grove was unsuccessful.
The council was seeking funding to refurbish the Pavilion Community Sports and Social Club in Swanscombe, affectionately dubbed “The Pav” by local residents.
Originally the government’s Youth Investment Fund had granted £4.4m to the town council to demolish and rebuild the sports facility.
Contracts had been sought and a modular build agreed for its demolition and rebuilding, and the work was due to be completed by December 2024.
Dartford council are being asked to stump up £1.8million for the Pavilion. Picture: Emma Ben Moussa
But the project, which had been in the works for several years, was scuppered earlier in 2024 when the government fund withdrew the promised cash after a report said it would go over budget.
The authority had hoped the decision to withdraw the money would be overturned, but this never came to fruition.
Swanscombe and Greenhithe Town Council then applied to the COF, also run by the government, to get money from them to instead refurbish the building, rather than demolish and build a new one.
However, a letter from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, re-read at a special meeting of the town council held just a stone’s throw away at the town hall on Thursday night (January 9), heard the bid had been rejected.
“I recognise this decision will be disappointing for you,” wrote housing minister Alex Norris in his letter of response.
The letter from the government claims the town council provided “insufficient detail” on the plans, a “limited cost breakdown” as well as insufficient feasibility studies and analysis of the financial risks involved.
Jim Dickson, Labour MP for Dartford, has raised the issue in parliament and is seeking a meeting with the relevant minister. Picture: Labour Party
The town council’s report proposes an alternative plan for the refurbishment of the building into a community facility which could also be rented out by local sports teams, and for events, which would cost £1.8m.
At the meeting earlier this week they voted to ask Dartford council to grant them the money in the budget this year.
They also say they could turn a profit on the building, of £29,000 in the first year, rising to £126,000 in the third.
Last February, Labour councillors asked the Conservative administration at Dartford council to put aside money from its reserves to help support the plans, but they were turned down.
Jim Dickson, Labour MP for Dartford, raised the issue of the Pav in Parliament last month calling for a response from the government.
“Swanscombe and Greenhithe deserve to see their Pavilion re-open and sport, culture and art activities start again, and I will continue to work with the council and government to make this happen,” he said.
It’s absolutely at the heart of the community, hosting youth community leisure and other events and activities
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “The bid to the COF was on the basis that with Dartford council refusing to support the project there was nowhere else to go.
“I think the council should be allocating funding to act as the anchor resource that would then enable other grants and funding streams to contribute to the project in order to get it done quickly – Dartford council has refused point blank to do so.
“Obviously, the town council haven’t got any of their own capital so they’re entirely dependent on trying to find funding from Dartford council or central government, or some other funding stream and I’m working very hard to make sure that happens.
“It’s absolutely at the heart of the community, hosting youth community leisure and other events and activities.
He added that in the wake of the rejection, just before Christmas, he was meeting with the relevant minister, Alex Norris MP on Monday (January 13) to discuss ways forward for the project to see if there are alternative funding streams to reopen the venue.
Cllr Carol Gale says the plans may as well have been “written on the back of a fag packet”
However, Cllr Carol Gale (Con), who represents Greenhithe and Knockhall, says that while “Swanscombe needs this facility,” the blame lies squarely with the town council.
“It’s deeply disappointing that yet another bid to create a new Swanscombe Pavilion has failed,” she said.
“The report into the failed bid makes it pretty clear that the proposals do not stack up and lack serious detail.
“It’s a repeat of last Spring when Labour councillors demanded more than £4million of council funds be committed to the project on the basis of a single paragraph containing no costings, design or project plan.
“You don’t do things on the back of a fag packet and ask someone for £4million.
“I’m not sure where they’re going to go now on this, it’s such a damning indictment on their final funding bid that I’m not sure any private funding facility would be happy to consider it.”
Cllr Emma Ben Moussa who represents Swanscombe
However, Cllr Emma Ben Moussa (Lab), who represents Swanscombe on the borough council, took a different view.
She explained how the financial officer of the town council, who had successfully achieved the £4million award previously, had just a small window to pull together the bid, and had relied to his detriment on advice as to further funding rounds should the application be rejected.
Cllr Ben Moussa proposed a motion at the town council meeting earlier his week to apply again to Dartford council for funding.
She explained: “Last time Dartford council rejected it they said they didn’t have enough information and it would undermine the bid to the COF.
“They can’t use that excuse this time round because we’re starting from scratch.
The Pavilion in Swanscombe needs funding to get it back up and running. Photo: Google
“It’s not that they can’t do it, it’s that they won’t do it. They’ve got healthy reserves but why should we miss out when the rest of the borough gets finances put into it?
“We’re happy to reach out to them and give them any information they need,” she added, saying she is confident the new bid will be detailed enough.
“If we don’t end up building this we’ll lose our [sports] teams – they’ll go elsewhere and I don’t blame them.
“It was a town council project but we’re at the point now I don’t really care if Dartford council take it over completely and end up owning it – my priority is getting it built now.”
The town council’s working group will be meeting next Wednesday, January 15 to hash out further details of its application to the borough council.