Leaders of SpeakUpCIC mental health support group say they are distressed at how they have been treated after receiving notice to quit their Margate Media Centre base due to the building being deemed ‘uninhabitable.’
SpeakUpCic is among four users of the building – the others being Looking Ahead service for adults with learning disabilities and King Street gallery and Margate Charter Trustees.
Notice to vacate was served by Thanet council last month after “significant safety failings were identified following inspections carried out within the building.”
SpeakUpCIC has a new home at Margate Baptist Church from mid-January but group leaders Maggie Gallant and Kay Byatt say they were upset to find the locks had been changed today (December 23) before they have had time to finish packing and moving.
They say they had explained they needed to keep routine and hold the final sessions up to Christmas, until December 19th, as part of their work to prevent people ‘reaching crisis point.’
Maggie says she had written to the council’s chief executive but did not receive a response until today (December 23).
Service manager Kay said: “We had the last of our groups on the 19th and then came (today) to finish packing but the council had come and changed the locks. (An officer) came at 9am and said we could go in but we only had until 10.30am.
“We just wanted to get the stuff out and ready for removal but feel we are being treated like criminals. It’s appalling.
“When TDC took back the building last month we were told there would be new contracts for rent but they needed to check the building first. Then in late November we were told the building is unsafe even though it is no different to how it has been for years.
“We had already started packing up but they didn’t even tell us they were changing the locks. We have to keep our members safe and had to tell them we are moving so had to do a lot of reassurance as this is the place they feel safe.
“We deal with very complex needs people with some experiencing suicide idealisation, We have been here 15 years, long term tenants, supporting some 150 people.
“It’s brutal. I’m gobsmacked that we are being treated like this.”
Maggie added: “I have been at the Media Centre for 15 years, since SpeakUp first started. We felt like criminals today, being locked out of the building on a very cold morning. We were not told they were going to change the locks and we feel victimised.”
‘Third party’
Thanet council says building tenants were notified last month that the premises needed to be vacated by December 19th but SpeakUpCIC can still have access to remove belongings on a supervised basis for safety reasons.
The council says although it owns the building, it had been operated by a third party and had fallen into ‘significant disrepair.’
The third party operator, Margate Media Community Project, says it was unable to do the necessary repairs due to a lease not being issued to it for the last seven years.
Director Claire Brown said: “The Margate Media Community Project had managed the building for 14 years. However, we were without a lease for seven years, despite numerous promises to secure one from the council. This year, the situation reached a critical point when necessary repairs were needed, but without a lease there was no financial stability, and we gave the council an ultimatum to give us a lease or take the building back and they decided to take the building back.
“The council conducted a report five months prior and was fully aware of the issues at hand. They reassured us and the tenants through written and verbal communications that all tenants were safe, aside from rent reviews.
“Three weeks after returning the property, I encountered distressed tenants who received only a month’s notice. The council has disregarded the fact that the tenants possessed existing, lawful leases and seemingly failed to serve any official notice.
“Unlike the council, we offered them alternative premises, but locking them out three days before Christmas feels like something out of a twisted Christmas carol.”
‘Safety failings’
A Thanet council spokesperson said support has been offered but safety is the main priority.
They added: “The directors of SpeakUpCIC, and three other users of the Margate Media Centre (at 11-13 King Street, Margate), were notified in writing by Thursday 27 November that they would be required to vacate and find alternative premises.
“This was on the basis that significant safety failings were identified following inspections carried out within the building.
“A deadline of Friday 19 December was set as the date for SpeakUpCIC to leave. This was to provide reasonable time to remove any items and identify an alternative location, whilst not placing those within the building at an unacceptable level of risk.
“SpeakUpCIC has been informed that it is still able to coordinate access to the building for the removal of any remaining items, but that this has to be carried out on a supervised basis for safety reasons.
“The Media Centre was previously a Lloyds bank, converted by the council to provide employment space approximately 20 years ago.
“Although the building is owned by the council, it was managed and operated by a third party. Under the previous occupation, the building had fallen into significant disrepair. As such, the council took back control for management of the building on 1 November 2025.
“Subsequent building inspections revealed a significant number of issues relating to health and safety.
“The council has offered to support all occupants to find alternative accommodation. Space has been made available for the Margate Charter Trustees at the council offices in Cecil Street, on an interim basis.
“Safety remains our priority in this matter. We cannot allow any organisation to operate out of a building that presents a danger to its occupants.”
New home
SpeakUpCIC will move to Margate Baptist Church in mid-January. Kay said: “We need a safe space for our members and I think we will be safe there, they have been very understanding. If it was not for them I don’t know what we would have done, they are wonderful.
“But I do think for the council to treat people in this way is just despicable.”
Maggie says arrangements have this evening been made to return to the building on Tuesday 6th January to resume the packing the team had hoped to have done today.
It is understood Looking Ahead has found new premises but not yet signed contracts.
Uninhabitable is I believe what you meant.
A “notice to quit” means just that. The tenants were given 28 days’ notice, then the landlord took possession.
A notice to quit does mean just that Andrew, but Looking Ahead Project and SpeakUpCIC were given no notice, we were all expected to leave at the end of the day, we could not leave as we had no where to go, plus the council doing this to two vulnerable groups, one group with mental health problems and one group with learning disabilities, is barbaric just before Christmas, that’s all I have to say on the matter
Gloria I think I speak for all who have commented in support of the work you and your colleagues do, the timing was pretty poor… However, if the building is in that poor a condition and has been for sometime it’s likely that everyone’s insurance in that building was probably void. Had a claim been made due to an accident resulting from poor maintenance, particularly where statutory regulations need to be met for insurance purposes, it could have left you all facing litigation in the event of an accident…I hope you all find permanent spaces in short order, but if things are as described you’re definitely safer not being in that building.
Sounds like ooh matron we need to fix repairs but we do not have money. How can the media centre run without a lease for 7 years. Next you see it up for sale.
Another issue stemming from the failings of the commercial property department at TDC? IF there was no lease in place, the council are’nt going to be a le to hold the management company responsible for any repair /maintenance issues , so the costs either fall on the council tax payer or the building is put on a disposal list.
IF the assertion that there’s been no lease in place for 7 years, who is going to be held to account in TDC?
Reading the comments below ,and the (apparent) involvement of a councillor and their partner , it hardly paints a picture of transparency and good practice.
As for the 7 years without a lease, there was a previous IoTn article about the failures within the councils commercial property department and there being properties without current leases , in poor condition, no rent collected. So perhaps there will be more skeletons yet to fall out of the cupboard.
Councillor “apparent” involvement is all there to be seen both on the Thanet District councillors register of interests and also on the limited company’s submissions to Companies House. To say that that there was no current lease in place is one thing, yet through the register of interests they acknowledged their position as a “leaseholder” within that seven year period of ‘no lease’ Cllr Rattigans’s partner claims. And surely, Cllr Rattigan as a company director must have and should have been well aware of the status of the lease or not when he was elected to council in the 2020 Cliffsend by-election…he didn’t resign as a company director til 2023.
As for TDC’s Property Management team I’ve now words, my thoughts are detailed on the IoTN article about property disposals published earlier this month…
Overall when it comes to the upMedia Centre no one (individual or organisation) covers themselves in glory, it should have been kept in good order and providing an income to support the upkeep of other publicly owned assets and services in Margate.
It’s also relevant for transparency to note that the actual landlord is Councillor Marc Rattigan, and that Claire Brown, who has spoken publicly on this matter, is his wife.
A council-owned building operating for seven years without a lease is highly unusual. Given that Councillor Marc Rattigan works within the council, it raises legitimate questions about why this wasn’t resolved earlier, rather than escalating to the displacement of community and mental health groups locking them out of the building 2 days before Christmas 🤔😕
Marc Rattigan resigned from the company in 2023, Claire Brown is the active director
Just had a quick look reading local news while awaiting my delayed flight ….
According to public company records, Councillor Marc Rattigan is listed as a director of several companies Bright Bright Start Nurseries Thanet Ltd,
Rattigan investments Ltd,
Thanet childcare Ramsgate Ltd,
35 Church street Ltd tied to childcare, community services, and local investment
noticeable that Cllr Marc Rattigan’s name appeared to be kept out of the news coverage or his connect to Claire Brown around the Margate Media Centre situation.
It hasn’t been ‘kept out,’ Claire Brown was simply the person who spoke in her position with the project as director. Marc has not been a director since 2023.
SpeakUpCIC would like to thank Marc Rattigan for being so welcoming and being such a great supporter of us over the years. Thanet District Council has behaved surprisingly badly, not providing a lease and exerting shameful behaviour not fitting of a local authority that’s meant to act in the best interests of the area.
As a matter of interest, was rent being paid during the period in which there was no lease? If it was paid can it be assumed it had’nt increased for some considerable amount of time ?
I’m sure there was an article on IOTN regarding the failures within the councils commercial property department. But i can’t seem to find it using the search function.
Perhaps Kathy could provide a link.?
https://theisleofthanetnews.com/2022/12/03/two-hundred-council-owned-commercial-properties-without-current-leases-and-more-than-1million-needed-for-huge-repairs-backlog/
Thanks for posting this link Kathy Bailes, very useful background!
Thank you,
Dear LN, one of SpeakupCIC’s Directors here: Rent was paid over this period, was kept at the original starting rate. It stayed the same for 15 years as a conscious decision on the part of Marc Rattigan to support us, as a Community Interest Company. Groups like us keep people out of hospital but still integrated within the community. Our peer-led groups also give back to the community through contributing to the life of the Margate Old Town. The Old Town is not just for tourists, who are important in different ways, but also for real, local, people that live and work in the area that provide regular people using the Old Town, a place that would otherwise be more deserted off-season, thus discouraging visitors and a downward spiral. It is this symbiotic relationship that supports a stronger more sustainable regeneration of an area that still struggles. Places like the Media Centre, in supporting community groups which Cllr. Rattigan has done, provide a win-win for the commercial health of the Town. TDCs behaviour towards us and other occupants of this building has been shameful and casts a shadow over the wider economic stability of the Old Town.
I’m not interested in the “touchy feely” explanations of what the groups do. I was enquiring about the rent. You say rent was paid over the 15 years to the CIC, but was any rent paid to TDC for the same 15 years? As in the absence of a lease for 7 years , would rent have been due to TDC over that time? Also if rent had been collected from the buildings tenants , why was the building allowed to deteriorate to the extent that after inspection the council served a notice to quit?
As in a previous post, given TDC’s previous issues in respect of councillors and property , i’d have thought both parties would have been very keen to keep things onnthe straight and narrow. Obviously a very odd situation and no doubt much will be related to the inefficiency of the councils property department.
However that said, there seems to be a bit of doubt as to the stability of the lessee ( according to those who’ve taken the time to read and understand the companies house records).
All a bit of a mess that hardly inspires confidence in TDC or it’s councillors.
I don’t think anyone is questioning Cllr Rattigan’s support for much needed community services, which I do applaud. That being said, and as has already been said above, if you have a foot in both camps you have to walk a very fine line.
If you benefit (or your partner subsequently with a change of directorship) from a lease, or lack of, presumably with a lack of rent review but also still have an income from your sub-lets that’s one thing.
If you’re a councillor, who’s job is to contribute to strategic direction, keep yourself informed and scrutinise on behalf of your ward (not just the people that elected you) that’s another thing…
If you’re (or have been) both at the same time you don’t have the excuse…you have the knowledge from both sides and your honour bound to do something about it.
The council officers (not councillors) have not done their job. The council itself is at fault for a long period of 7 years, as well as their tactics now towards tenants.
I have closed comments after the most recent, now deleted, comment which was a disgusting personal attack and not acceptable on this site.