South Lanarkshire Council have been accused of "dragging their heels" with repairs to Stewartfield Community Centre leaving vital community groups unable to reopen following the pandemic.
David Watson, Independent Councillor for East Kilbride West, claims that SLC and South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC) have had ample time to carry out repairs to the main hall floor which had started to warp at the beginning of the year.
The issue has meant main hall access for users has been limited following the centre's closure amid the pandemic.
Forever Friends Toddlers Group, who are full to capacity with a lengthy waiting list, have been waiting on a date to restart at the community hub since October following the lifting of COVID restrictions.
They were initially told the centre was only operating part-time as the council were short staffed but now face further delays with the faulty floor.
A spokeswoman for the group posted on the Forever Friends Facebook page: "Unfortunately I am still waiting for a date from SLC as to when I am able to reopen this group.
"This is very frustrating but I’m afraid at this time it is out of my hands."
Councillor Watson said: "At a time when the Alistair McCoist Centre is out of commission due to it being used as a COVID vaccine centre by the NHS, all stops should have been pulled out to make sure Stewartfield was able to be used by the town's sporting community.
"This appears to be indicative of poor and limited ongoing maintenance and care of facilities."
A spokesman for SLC said the project has been progressed "as quickly as possible" under current circumstances.
He added: "Unfortunately, work to repair the floor at Stewartfield Community Centre was delayed to allow for further specialised investigation into why cracks appeared in the floor and to establish if there was an underlying issue requiring attention.
"The options for repair are now being reviewed."
However, Councillor Watson hit back saying: "I fail to see why it has taken three months to get to this stage.
"If they have options available I would expect a start date to these works as soon as possible.
"It would be great to see the toddler group start back to give local parents and carers an opportunity to take part in local activity for toddlers.
"Hopefully they will be given a date sooner rather than later.
"I will take this up with SLLC to push for an entry date."
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