Call for Ukrainian refugees to be housed at Horsham community centre

The centre - created by integrating St Peter’s Hall and the Royal Air Force Association Club at Three Acres on the Needles Estate - has only recently been remodelled by Horsham District Council and renamed Blackbridge Community Centre.

And now Betty Wells, who lives nearby, is asking the district council to make the new building available to house refugees.

“The building is just standing there empty,” said Betty. “It’s a white elephant.

“It’s a very nice building. We could make use of it and house refugees until they find other accommodation.

“It has a nice kitchen with a fridge and cooker and all electrical items.

“There is a lift that goes up to the first floor. They could really do something with it and make use of it.”

Horsham District Council has recently made the building - which has a large and small hall - available for hire for public and private events.

The centre has been renovated with the latest energy-saving technologies.

It was originally built as farm buildings serving Needles Farm.

It is rumoured that the buildings are made from timbers from ships wrecked off The Needles, lending its name to both the farm and the estate as a whole.

The farm buildings were originally converted into community use in the late 1950s at around the same time as construction of the Needles housing estate.

Part of the site was used by the RAFA club since the 1970s until they vacated the property in 2020 due to declining numbers.

St Peter’s Hall was used as a Sunday School by a local Church, which moved to another site.

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