Pictured: Trustee John Rowlinson, club manager Sarah-Jane Elvin and paddle-sports instructor Rose Austin; on the barge, office manager Jan Dorling

A COMMUNITY boating charity faces permanent closure after the Town Hall declared it must vacate its historic site. Islington Boat Club (IBC) – which generations of children have used – could close amid accusations of mismanagement on both sides.

IBC managers have been told the council will not allow them to renew their lease when it expires at the end of this year.

In the words of IBC manager Sarah-Jane Elvin: “We have been given notice of our lease ending – that is for the building and the site and access to the water. Without that we are unable to operate.”

The boat club was closed abruptly in May after a council inspection declared the building it operates from a safety hazard. Until recently, the IBC harboured hopes of working together with the council to negotiate a new lease and reopen next April.

But Town Hall asset managers say the club has broken the terms of its contract by allowing its building to fall into disrepair, adding they will oppose granting a new lease to the club.

In return, Ms Elvin argues the council has failed in its duty as landlord of the site.

“They used to come and do checks every year,” she said. “As landlords they have ownership – they have their own duties.”

Ms Elvin added the council’s decision to close the site was “so sudden,” giving the charity no warning that repairs had to be made.

She said: “That’s where the crux of the matter is: we don’t feel the council supports us. The lease has been running out. We’ve been trying to negotiate on a new lease for years, and it’s only now they’ve said: ‘Your lease is ending’.”

Amid the infighting, thousands of people have been turned away from the water.

“Between May and July we cancelled 144 bookings – that’s 1,600 individuals that were scheduled to come in,” Ms Elvin said.

She is concerned the council want to turn the boat club into a “commercial centre, where you pay and turn up to go on the water – but then you lose the youth training and the community”.

The charity has now launched a campaign to be allowed to stay, calling for locals to write letters of support to councillors and MPs.

“We need a lot of voices – I’m sure that they are out there,” said IBC office manager Jan Dorling.

The IBC says it can operate from its barge, stationed on the water.

“We’re not asking for [the council] to do anything other than let us stay here,” said Ms Dorling. “We started on the barge, we’ll carry on on the barge. We’re disregarding the building… all we want is to be able to come through that gate and into this yard.

“We need official permission for that to happen. The club has a very productive future in front of it, but we need to be enabled to do that.”

Islington Boat Club first opened in 1970 after campaigner and journalist Crystal Hale saw off the threat to turn the City Road Basin into a car park.

Fifty years on, Ms Dorling said: “I personally feel that it’s [Crystal Hale’s] legacy that’s at risk. She and the other members around her did so much to save the basin.”

She added: “The reason she did it was for children to play safely on this water. We’ve been able to provide that for 50-odd years, and it hurts to not be able to do that.”

A Town Hall spokes­person said: “Islington Council had to close the Islington Boat Club site because dangerous structural and electrical health and safety issues were found on the site. This was necessary to protect the safety of club users.

“The council considers that City Road Basin is a unique and special resource. The council wants to see it being fully used by local people for boating activities, and is very disappointed that it has had to close the site.

“Islington Boat Club is a charity, and is not funded by the council. “As an independent organisation with responsibility for the site they need to show that they are able to put right the problems that resulted in the council having to close the site, and that they can prevent similar problems from happening again.

“The council needs to have confidence that the site and the club will be safely and properly run.”