The sale of Cricklewood's Production Village is threatening the survival of an on-site community group.

The Kateda organisation has been using a warehouse on land behind the Magic Hour pub in Cricklewood Lane since November last year, rent free. The news that owners Bass Taverns are in the final stages of selling the site, means the group is in danger of having to disband.

"Bass Taverns have been really good to us, but we have no idea what will happen when they sell Production Village," said a spokeswoman.

In less than five months the Kateda group has spruced up the rubbish-strewn warehouse and it now has more than 100 people taking part in its activities.

"We have been running self-defence classes, social education courses, arts and music workshops, basketball and chess tournaments and we have also held exhibitions and seminars to highlight some of the natural talents that lie within our communities but are rarely given the chance to be expressed," added the spokeswoman.

Bass has provided no clues as to who will take over the site, but say all the small businesses, including Kateda, are being kept informed of developments.

Kateda is hoping the new owners will allow it to continue using the building. In fact the group is working towards 24-hour opening. "We have about 25 professional instructors who are willing to give their time and work towards having the place open 24 hours a day," continued the spokeswoman.

"What we're doing is mostly geared towards youth -- they need to feel that people care for them, we just want to try and make sure that we will still have a venue, even if we have to leave this site." Uncertainty will continue until the end of the month when final details of the sale are expected to be announced.

See features

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.