A COMMUNITY hub which was refurbished less than two years ago could soon cease to exist if people are not encouraged to use it, a council meeting heard.

The station house at Burnham Railway Station was refurbished in a £75,000 project in 2015 in a bid to encourage more groups to use it as a community hub.

However, at a Burnham Town Council meeting last week it was stated that it is not working as a community space, with less people hiring it out for meetings.

Burnham Mayor Ron Pratt said: “It seems to be the case that more people are opting to use the council chambers at no charge to hold meetings, and the station house is getting neglected because it’s not appealing to people.

“As a town council we should take a look at the marketing strategy behind how the house is promoted and what it can offer so it can be viewed in a positive light.”

Councillor Wendy Stamp said the house is currently “very unwelcoming” and that people need incentive to hire out community spaces.

She said: “It’s not brightest of sights in the town, you walk in there and there’s leaflets strewn all over the place and there’s no sense of community atmosphere. If it’s not an appealing location to meet then people won’t want to hire it.

“It would be a shame if it has to be turned into something else as many worked hard to get the funding to have it refurbished. If it were the case where we could hand it over completely to art studio that’s there it could be put to some use.

“In its present state, the house is not a well-functioning community hub.”