How Lenzie Public Hall came to be
What happened 2013 – 2020
What’s sadly happened since
What we’ve been doing
What we’re looking to do next / how you can help
How Lenzie Public Hall came to be
The hall was built in 1892 using funds raised by the local community by organising a Bazaar at the Fine Art Galleries on Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow.
A special train was put on to get the local community back from the Bazaar. Can you imagine ScotRail doing this now?
The Kirky Herald printed an in-depth 5 page article on the Bazaar. Each stall was given a flower name. The article lists all the flower names, the names of the stallholders (pre-dominantly Lenzie women) and where they lived in Lenzie. Did a relative or someone who once lived in your house raise money for the hall?
The hall was built on land donated to the community for use as a public hall.
Up until its transfer to Strathkelvin District Council (now EDC) in 1979, the hall was owned and run by Trustees selected from the community.
Lenzie Public Hall was “home” to Lenzie Girl Guides from at least 1963 to 2019 (56 years).
What happened 2013 – 2020
In 2013 EDC let the hall on a fully repairing and insuring lease to the Trustees of Malcolm Cancer Fund (a Taekwondo Club).
In September 2019 EDC terminated this lease. The building was, at this time, still in use by the community.
With very little notice, Lenzie Girl Guides had to remove their belongings from the hall and rehouse these (primarily to private homes) and find alternative lets for all Rainbow, Brownie and Guide units (11 units in total) operating at that time from the hall. The closing of the hall effectively had a disproportionate effect on girls in the community of Guiding age.
Within a few weeks EDC put the hall up for let, once again, on the basis of a fully repairing and insuring lease.
On 20 February 2020 EDC approved a budget line of £500,000 to support the refurbishment of the hall. The hall was now to be refurbished before being re-let.
Lease applications for the hall closed 28 February 2020.
A group of community members with connections to various local groups and businesses set up a group (the Love Lenzie Association, Love Lenzie) to look at submitting a lease application for the hall. Love Lenzie was though approached by LEAP Ltd (LEAP), a charity which seeks to meet the needs of over 50s in a practical and fun way. LEAP wqw considering submitting a lease application and wanted to see if Love Lenzie would, instead of submitting its own application, support an application by LEAP. After careful thought on the part of all the community members involved, Love Lenzie decided to support LEAP’s application instead of putting in its own application. Love Lenzie provided the Appendix (Community support part) to LEAP’s application.
In June 2020 EDC selected LEAP as preferred tenant for the hall.
It was expected that the hall would be refurbished and then LEAP be given the lease, bringing its services and offering to the hall for the benefit of the local area as well as East Dunbartonshire as a whole.
What has sadly happened since
Sadly, despite:
– Love Lenzie, Lenzie Community Council, Lenzie Girlguiding and LEAP plus other community members and organisations all at times chasing and being given reassurances by EDC Officers and Councillors that funds remained available for the project and that the project would be progressed / was progressing
– the refurbishment of the hall being on EDC’s 10-year capital development plan with a budget of £500K for expenditure in Year 2022/23 and then 30-year capital investment plan with an allocated budget of £3.25m for 2023/24 with progress planned
– the upgrade of the hall being since 2022 on EDC’s Local Development Plan pages 57 & 58 for the area
little or no effective progress has ever been made towards refurbishing the hall.
At the end of February 2025 EDC published its paperwork for its upcoming budget meeting. In this it had concerning the hall that the “costs to deliver the project in full [are]now estimated at £6m” and that it is recommended that:
“all work should cease on the project immediately”
“the Council formally withdraw from the agreement to lease the building to … LEAP”
“the property be declared surplus to operational requirements”;
“offers are … sought for its sale/transfer/lease to interested third parties for the provision of community facilities
Acting swiftly, various members of the community (some previously involved with looking at lease of the hall back in 2019/20, some new and now all part of the volunteer team for Lenzie Community Hall Limited) put together a petition against the proposals signed by over 600 people in 2 days and submitted to the EDC on the day of the budget meeting. They sent emails to Councillors opposing the proposals. However, given the short notice and lack of any real means of challenge (the only way being to submit via a Councillor an alternative budget by 12 noon on the Tuesday before the meeting of doing so), the community was put by EDC in an extremely difficult position from which to challenge the proposals.
These Council’s proposals were passed unamended. It was though highlighted at the meeting that the three local Councillors and the council in general want the hall to be retained as public space and that any community group who wants to attempt to take it on will be supported.
The community members submitted a Freedom of Information Request to EDC for documents including a copy of the £6 million cost estimate.
Love Lenzie, Lenzie Community Council, Girl Guiding Lenzie District and various members of the community also sent a formal complaint to EDC (cc: our MP, all MSPs and all EDC Councillors).
In the meantime, EDC have since cleared out the hall and carried out some repair work in preparation for remarketing the hall.
In the middle of June 2025 EDC put the hall back up for let / sale, stating too that Community Asset Transfer requests will also be considered.
Having been kindly extended by EDC, the current deadline for submission of offers for the hall is 30 January 2026.
What we’ve been doing
We (various community members, who are now part of the Lenzie Community Hall Limited volunteer team) subsequently viewed the hall (see Photos).
East Dunbartonshire Voluntary Action (EDVA’s) have kindly assisted with seeking local people’s views on community ownership / management of the hall by preparing for the community and collating for it the results of a survey on this.
On advice, we’ve set up Lenzie Community Hall Limited as a vehicle capable of submitting an offer for the hall as a Community Asset Transfer.
We’ve now in Lenzie Community Hall Limited’s name also commissioned a building condition survey of the hall, which we’ve now received.
What we’re looking to do next / how you can help?
We’re currently reviewing the building condition survey and looking at the feasibility of putting in an offer for the hall. If considered feasible, we’ll then start to prepare a Community Asset Transfer application including business plan for submitting to EDC before the offer deadline.
Sign up to attend! We’re holding a hybrid project launch event Wed 7 January 7pm-8:15pm (online & at EDVA’s offices) for members of the public. Come along to find out more about the project / ways in which you may be able to help.
Become a member, volunteer, sign up to receive updates – go to our Get Involved page to find out more.
We’ve an amazing community with a wealth of skills, experience, enthusiasm and determination. Working together we can do this!