ALTON Citizens Advice Bureau solves problems for others – but now it has a problem of its own. A U-turn by East Hampshire District Council has left the CAB seething, with the offer of more space swept from under its feet and the only compensation – a suggestion that it could spread into a "dark and smelly" 17th century cellar! EHDC said that it is trying to make the best use of space in an inflexible Grade II listed building while continuing to meet the needs of the community in terms of district council and tourist information and CAB. Bureau manager, Dominic Carney, said the issue of space has been an ongoing problem for Alton CAB. With growing pressure for services and increasingly complex cases stretching resources and time, the bureau has outgrown the first floor of its Cross and Pillory Lane offices and has been seeking larger premises. Plans to join with a housing association and then to become part of a new Community Centre building ran into difficulties. The external search was dropped when it became clear that the CAB might be able to spread into the office below, to be vacated by the Tourist Information Centre. But while the TIC has now closed, plans for the room have changed. Mr Carney told The Herald: "Up to the beginning of this month we were led to believe by EHDC that we would be able to expand our service into a large room downstairs, following the closure of the TIC. However, officers visited us on May 7 and informed us that there was little or no possibility of the CAB now getting any more space in the near future. "Apparently the demands of the new Tourism Information Point and the need for a variety of screens to support other council functions have precedence over our operations and will use up all the downstairs space. "This puts us in a jam. We were planning to use the extra room for purposes including training, providing an upgrade to our telephone-based service and to allow advisers to write up their cases, which can often be very complex, away from the hustle and bustle of the main office. "All these functions would have improved the service. Now we find that we are not getting the space and our advisers are really disappointed. "But we never say die in the CAB. We have been promised fit-for-purpose accommodation for over 10 years and I am sure that we will get it someday." According to Mr Carney, EHDC is now looking at whether the cellar can be converted into a training room but he feels it will be "a big challenge". "The stairs are very steep, there is only one exit for the whole basement area and there is no natural light; also it's a bit damp and smelly. "Our advisers would really appreciate having all CAB functions housed above ground. At the moment (as volunteers) they feel taken for ganted." East Hampshire District Council's head of policy, Tom Horwood, expressed deep dismay over what he believed to be a positive meeting with the CAB over use of the hole left by the TIC. He said EHDC had "never promised" the use of the room to the CAB and was currently working with the organisation to see how best to use the space for the benefit of the community as a whole. He said that, due to the restrictions imposed by a Grade II listed building, it was not possible to carry out internal alterations to make the space more user friendly. And within the past year or so, EHDC had handed over a ground-floor room to the CAB for use as an interview room for disabled clients and had also offered to host the CAB reception downstairs, which would open up the first floor reception area for consultation and/or training. Mr Horwood also stressed that use of the cellar was only a suggestion and that it was recognised that, while the space afforded would be large, the problems surrounding access and making it fit for use would probably be insurmountable, both in terms of cost and do-ability. It was his understanding that the CAB only required additional space to accommodate a weekly four- hour training session and he had to balance that need against the need for public access to other services. It would require some "creative thinking" but EHDC didn't want the people of Alton to feel they have been "short changed", particularly on Tourist Information facilities.
