Parc (Essex): Lease wrangle blamed on empty charity building
- Published
The purpose-built Parc site is now overgrown
A lease wrangle has been blamed for a building used by families of children with complex needs being left empty for more than a year.
The premises at Great Notley Country Park, near Braintree, Essex, was closed when the charity operating it failed.
About 140 families were affected by the closure of Parc (Essex) in June 2022 after at least £64,000 could not be accounted for.
Trustees of the charity said they were hopeful of resolving the situation.
Parc closed the site in Essex more than a year ago
The building is owned by Braintree District Council, but the lease is still held by the trustees as the charity has not yet been dissolved.
Trustee and former acting chief executive, Chris McCann, who stepped in last year when the charity hit financial problems, said the situation was "not simple and straightforward".
"We have a meeting next Wednesday where we will try and get to a position of being able to surrender the lease," he said.
He added they were starting an insolvency process which would allow former staff to claim statutory redundancy pay.
The Charity Commission said it issued "formal regulatory advice and guidance to the trustees".
Braintree District Council said it wanted to take over the building and bring it back into use.
Francesca Byers praised the service Parc provided her son, Blair
Since the charity closed, parents of children with a range of disabilities and behavioural issues have had to seek alternative provision.
Francesca Byers, from Witham, said she felt let down and "disgusted" by what had happened.
Her four-year-old son, Blair, who had only just started attending Parc when it closed, has a range of conditions including epilepsy and Lennox-Gestaut Syndrome., external.
She said alternatives that had been offered did not meet his needs.
"For us, we've been left without provision. He [Blair] does not live in our world, he very much lives in his own world and he needs a space where he can be himself safely," she said.
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