North West Leicestershire District Council  

Whitwick Road 
Coalville 
Leicestershire 
LE67 3FJ  

 

12/05/2026 
 
To: Leader and Members of North West Leicestershire District Council 

 

An Open Letter Regarding the Future of Moira Replan 

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We are writing as supporters of the Moira Replan community to express serious concern regarding the handling of the situation surrounding Moira Replan and the building at 17 Ashby Road. 

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For more than 35 years, Moira Replan has operated as a vital and actively used community hub, supporting wellbeing, reducing isolation, preserving local heritage, and providing a space for creativity, learning, and connection. Originally established in 1988 to support redundant miners and local residents affected by industrial decline, Replan was created to help people rebuild their futures through training, education, and community support. That spirit of resilience and community service still exists today. 

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The building now supports up to 100 regular users each week, alongside regular informal drop-in visits from residents accessing photocopying, information, community support, and heritage displays. For many residents, particularly older members of the community, Replan is not simply a building. It is a familiar face, a support network, a place of purpose, and in some cases, one of the few remaining places in Moira where people feel connected to their community. 

However, the process surrounding the future of this building has raised significant concerns to Moira Replan regarding transparency, consistency, accountability, and the apparent lack of meaningful engagement with the community it serves. 

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For many years, Moira Replan operated under rolling lease renewal arrangements with the understanding that the organisation could continue occupying the building provided it remained well maintained and internal repairs were undertaken by the charity. 

 

 

 

We have repeatedly been told by North West Leicestershire District Council 
that the future of the building is linked to energy efficiency regulations and EPC requirements. However: 

• No clear collaborative improvement plan appears to have been developed  

 • Practical and achievable solutions do not appear to have been fully explored 
• There appears to have been conflicting information regarding what options may have been possible 

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Following a visit involving senior Council officers, it was stated in a letter to Moira Replan that the possibility of an exemption or alternative approach relating to the EPC requirements would be explored. However, no clear outcome, update, or apparent progression of this option appears to have been communicated to the organisation before the subsequent issuing of a Section 25 Notice. 

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During this period of uncertainty, the Moira Replan remained unable to secure meaningful long-term tenure for the building. This significantly restricted access to grant funding opportunities that could have supported energy improvement works and long-term sustainability. Since January 2025, Moira Replan has operated under short-term licence arrangements, further limiting long-term planning and access to funding opportunities. 

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Despite these difficulties, Replan had already undertaken fundraising efforts to support improvement works and contributed towards upgrades intended to improve the building’s energy performance, including upgrades to the boiler system and lighting, while also identifying further practical solutions. It is understood that these improvement works brought the EPC rating closer to the required standard. A quotation of approximately £8,000 had been obtained for cavity wall insulation works which would have have improved the building’s energy rating further. This demonstrated the organisation’s willingness to actively work towards meeting required standards, despite the financial limitations faced by a volunteer-led community charity. 

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Community concern has grown because no clear resolution regarding the proposed exemption appears to have been communicated before Moira Replan was subsequently served with a Section 25 Notice, fundamentally changing the position and placing the future of Replan in significant uncertainty. 

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Moira Replan now has less than ten weeks to secure the substantial funding required to submit a bid to purchase the building. The property has already been offered for sale to Moira Replan at a valuation of £230,000, placing enormous pressure on a volunteer-led charity run by local people striving to protect a valued community resource. 

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Despite the building being formally recognised as an Asset of Community Value, concerns have also been raised that no meaningful assistance or financial support appears to have been offered by the Council in relation to the substantial sum required to secure the building’s future for community use. 

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While alternative premises have been suggested, these have been shown to be unsuitable for the wide range of services, activities, accessibility needs, and heritage functions currently provided by Replan. They also lack the central location that makes Moira Replan accessible and visible to the wider community. 

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We are further concerned by the apparent lack of a meaningful assessment of the building’s social value. 

Council records reportedly state there is “no information on the social value of these uses” despite: 

• More than 35 years of continuous community operation 
• Approximately 100 regular weekly users 
• Daily informal community use 
• Heritage and wellbeing activities 
• Nearly 1,000 signatures gathered through written and online petitions supporting the continuation of Moira Replan 

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We have now created a Community Impact Statement that will also be publicly available alongside a five-year business plan showing the long-term sustainability, development potential, and continued social value of Moira Replan, including proposals for future growth, community activities, heritage preservation, and pathways towards improving the building and securing its future for generations to come. 

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In addition, the building has already been recognised through its status as a listed Asset of Community Value. This recognition itself demonstrates that the building has ongoing and evidential importance to the community it serves. 

We also note a contradiction in the handling of public scrutiny. It has reportedly been stated within published Council minutes that this matter should not be considered by a scrutiny committee because it is a landlord and tenant issue. However, the landlord in this case is North West Leicestershire District Council itself. Given the clear public interest and community impact, we believe this matter warrants transparency and appropriate public oversight. 

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Moira Replan is not an underused or speculative asset. It is a proven, active, and essential community resource with an established user base, a sustainable future vision, and strong public support. 

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We believe this raises serious questions about whether sufficient consideration appears to have been given to the social value of Moira Replan and whether sufficient opportunities were explored to support a viable community-led solution before progressing toward disposal and lease termination. 

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Given the building’s longstanding community role, established public benefit, and recognised status as an Asset of Community Value, we believe North West Leicestershire District Council should formally explore the possibility of a Community Asset Transfer. 

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The Trustees strongly believe that this building should remain in community ownership and be managed for the benefit of local residents through a charitable trust structure. After more than 35 years serving the people of Moira, we believe the building should ultimately be returned to the community it was created to support. 

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It is also important to recognise that the building was originally funded through public money contributed by local taxpayers to Ashby Woulds Urban District Council. Many residents therefore feel a strong sense of connection and shared ownership towards the building and its continued role as a community resource. 

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A Community Asset Transfer would provide an opportunity to protect the building’s social value while enabling the community organisation already operating within the space to continue developing and expanding its services for local residents, while ensuring the asset remains rooted in local stewardship rather than being permanently lost from community use. 

 

We therefore ask the Council to: 

• Provide full transparency regarding the decision-making process 
• Clarify the rationale behind the Section 25 Notice and subsequent actions 
• Undertake a proper and evidence-based assessment of the building’s social value 
• Reconsider the practicality and fairness of the conditions presented 
• Engage constructively with Moira Replan regarding a Community Asset Transfer, extended lease arrangement, or other community-led solution 

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This is about more than a building. 

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It is about protecting a long-standing community resource, preserving local heritage, and ensuring that decisions affecting local people are made transparently, fairly, and in genuine partnership with the community.  

Once community spaces like this are lost, the social connections, support networks, local heritage and possibilities for future development they provide are often impossible to fully rebuild. 

 

Respectfully, 

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Moira Replan Trustees and Supporters 

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Support the campaign: crowdfunder.co.uk/p/savemoirareplan