HUNDREDS turned out to get their first look around a much-needed community centre.

Pinehurst’s £2m Pinetrees Community Centre was officially opened yesterday much to the delight of residents and councillors who have campaigned long and hard for it.

The Pinehurst People’s Centre was demolished in 2007.

In 2009 a campaign was started to force Swindon Council to act amid claims by councillors that the local authority had consistently failed to deliver on promises to create a new centre.

Yesterday, after four years of fighting, the council finally delivered on their promise and the centre was opened by Mayor Ray Ballman and north Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson.

Jessica Bascombe, chairman of the Pinetrees Steering Group said: “It is wonderful. The community has been fighting and now we have one right in the heart of the Pinehurst community. It is a real buzz to see so many people here.

“It seems like every day has been a battle for something but finally there are no more battles.

“Now the only battle we have is getting people to take ownership of the centre and make it their own but I am not going to make them do that, that is their job.”

Despite a copper theft which threatened to stall the building work earlier this year, the Pinetrees Community Centre was completed on time and in budget to the delight of the mayor and ward councillor for Gorse Hill and Pinehurst Ray Ballman.

She said: “It’s great to have the Pinehurst Community Centre which has been needed since 2007 when the old centre was demolished and the opening is a sign that the council has delivered on its promises.

“I now hope the people of Pinehurst claim this centre as their own and make the most of it.”

Swindon Council will run it until April when responsibility will be handed to a group of trustees, which will be established by a steering group.

The two-storey centre is on the site of the former Pinetrees residential home on The Circle and replaces the Pinehurst People’s Centre, which was located on the site where the Swindon Academy now stands.

Jane Reeves, of Pinehurst, said: “It is excellent. It will bring people together and is providing people with what is needed in Pinehurst, like the dentist. It looks really good and I think it will be used widely.”

On the ground floor, there will be an internet cafe, kitchen, two NHS dental rooms, two rentable meeting rooms, a library, a Citizens Advice Bureau, reception and toilets.

Anyone interested in helping to run the centre or in renting the space, can contact Ed Browne, the community development officer for Pinehurst, on 07769 281655 or ebrowne@swindon.gov.uk. Those interested in hiring the hall can call 01793 466486.