A COMMUNITY trust has slammed Renfrewshire Council after discovering a building which is earmarked as a new base for its nursery has been trashed by vandals.

Members of the Linwood Community Development Trust (LCDT) have been waiting for the completion of an asset transfer to take over the old janitor’s house at the former Clippens School site, which is owned by the council.

The trust intends to use the building as a drop-off point and base for the Little Seeds Woodland Nursery – Renfrewshire’s first outdoor nursery – which opened on Monday.

An asset transfer was agreed earlier this year and the trust had said it was happy for it to be completed once the demolition of the former special needs school was finished.

But months on from the demolition, which took place this summer, the change in ownership has still not been finalised.

And when staff were handed the keys to check on the building last week, they were horrified to find tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage caused by mindless yobs.

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There was glass everywhere, furniture had been trashed and threatening graffiti had been daubed on the walls.

Kirsty Flannigan, trust manager, said she has been left fuming – and not just at the vandals who targeted the building.

She claims the trust has been treated with “utter contempt” by the council and has accused the local authority of ridding itself of any responsibility for the building as soon as the asset transfer was agreed, despite still owning it.

Ms Flannigan said: “I was filled with complete and utter anger when I saw the damage. It should never have got to that stage.

“There have been constant delays with this asset transfer. We agreed to take it over in February but only once the demolition of the school had been completed. The bulldozers were there in June and the council still own that building.

“It has become a beacon for vandalism.

“If they had just handed the building over to us then (after the demolition), it never would’ve got to this stage.

“The pattern seems to be that, as soon as LCDT submits an asset transfer application, the council ceases to maintain its own property.

“As these assets decline, by the time we are ready to use them the cost to bring them back to a reasonable standard increases.

The Gazette: Threatening graffiti was daubed on walls

“I am totally frustrated with the whole process. We have been treated with utter contempt.”

The LCDT currently has a few projects on the go, including the woodland nursery and a development at Mossedge, where construction work has started on a new community centre and a 3G football pitch.

The asset transfer for the Mossedge project has been fully completed but the trust is still waiting to be given ownership of the woodland for the nursery and the former Clippens School site.

The process, which began about three years ago, has been filled with frustration for the trust, from being rejected for Lottery funding and a grant from the council’s Community Empowerment Fund to constant delays in getting the asset transfer completed.

The Gazette: Furniture was trashed

Ms Flannigan added: “We knew the building would need some renovation even when we had the walk round it back in February, so that’s why we applied for a grant from the Community Empowerment Fund, but that application was rejected as we were told we didn’t fill the requirements.

“That is being reviewed again now and we should know this month whether anything has changed.

“We went in to do another inspection ahead of that and this is what greeted us but it won’t stop us. This is just another hurdle we have to get over.”

The council’s Community Empowerment Fund was set up earlier this year to support local groups who are keen to develop ideas for buildings which could be adopted by the community via an asset transfer.

The Gazette: Damage at the site is widespread

Ms Flannigan said the trust has now set up a meeting with the council’s chief executive, Sandra Black, in the hope action will be taken to clean up the damage at the former Clippens School site and move the transfer process along.

She added: “We would expect to come to an agreement on the renovation of the property but, first, the inside of the building has to be cleared.”