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Trades and Labour members vote to close club rather than find new premises
08/09/2021
A re-vote has reversed a decision made in August and will see members take the cash from the sale of their building
Banbury’s Trades and Labour Club will not be reopening in a new venue after their current premises on West Bar Street is sold. Members have revoted and reversed the previous decision to invest the proceeds of the sale of their building into a new venue so the club can keep going.
Instead each member will now take their share of the proceeds from the sale of the property, which is currently on the market at around £1m.
Club President David Lydiatt told Banbury FM he was gutted by the decision. He said: “I’m heartbroken. I’ve got to go and tell the people that come in at the weekend that as from the 31st October they won’t have anywhere else to go. ”
It is understood all club members were asked to vote again after a technicality meant the vote previously made at an Extraordinary General Meeting at the start of August was found to not be valid under club rules.
The result of the new votes was announced last night with around two-thirds of those voting opting to take the money from the sale of the building.
Mr Lydiatt believes that money was the motivator for many in their decision. He said: “It’s the members that don’t use the club. They come in and pay their subscription every year, but then we don’t see them again. They’ve decided not to support the club – which they didn’t anyway. They’ve decided they want their bit of money.”
Mr Lydiatt said he had been investigating potential new homes for the club, with the ground floor of the old Post Office building on Banbury High Street having been of particular interest.
He said: “I’ve done a lot of hard work – a lot of leg work – to try and find a new venue and then to have it just taken away. That’s it – finished – Banbury Trades and Labour Club will trade no more.”
Banbury Trades and Labour Club was founded 95 years ago. The club was originally based in Pepper Alley but moved to its current location in West Bar Street in the 1950s.
Club membership stood at 800 a few years ago, but in recent years had fallen to around 350. An increase in membership subscriptions meant the club had remained viable, but the pandemic and long periods of enforced closures had severely affected the club’s financial position. This resulted in the need to sell their current building.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam
virginia marylin harper On 08/09/2021 at 9:51 pm
my dad and grandad and all my uncles nearly all lived there in days gone by but as life has moved on it got to clicky and favourites took over what was a good social club