Teamwork vital for Longfield's success

Date published: 18 March 2010

Bury Council is to work with local campaigners to ensure the best possible future for the Longfield Suite in Prestwich.

It has taken up an offer from members of the non-political group SaveOurSuite.com to help secure a more viable and sustainable future for the suite.

It follows a review of the borough’s civic venues, which attracted more than 1,300 formal comments from the public.

The council decided to retain the Longfield Suite in its current format, but put a business plan in place to improve marketing, awareness, usage and income. This would be operated over 18-24 months and be reviewed after 12 months by the council’s management board.

The SaveOurSuite.com campaigners are Prestwich residents, who are regular users of the Suite.

They have offered to be “critical friends”, i.e. people who can help identify problem areas and devise solutions.

Councillor Bob Bibby, leader of Bury Council, said: “I am delighted that Prestwich residents have offered to help us build a bright future for the Longfield Suite.

“During the review of civic venues, we were left in no doubt that many people in our borough felt strongly about the halls and wanted to keep them. At the same time, we have to ensure that the taxpayer gets a fair deal.

“It is vital that plans are put in place to make the Longfield Suite a successful venue. There is no magic wand we can wave and transform things overnight, but I very much welcome the offer from the SaveOurSuite.com campaigners to help us in our task.”

Mr Kevin Hodges, organiser of SaveOurSuite.com, said: “We are Prestwich residents who use the Longfield Suite regularly, and also council taxpayers who want to be sure that the Suite provides value for money and community benefits and has a bright future to which everyone who cares about this community facility can look forward to.

“We are motivated solely by civic pride. Contrary to some recent media reports, the SaveOurSuite.com group is non-political – none of its members are councillors.

“We have years of experience in marketing, business planning, events management and many other areas of expertise. We have many ideas regarding areas of improvement, and believe we can ensure a positive future for the Longfield.”