Outdoors centres deal ‘not perfect’ but beats closure (From Worcester News)

Outdoors centres deal ‘not perfect’ but beats closure

11:40am Friday 28th September 2012 in News By Tom Edwards

THREE outdoor education centres for Worcestershire’s children have been saved from the axe after council chiefs agreed private firms could run them.

The three sites at Malvern, Upton Warren and Llanrug in Wales are being handed to two private firms which have guaranteed to “invest in the facilities” and keep them open.

The centres, which are owned by Worcestershire County Council , have all consistently lost money for years.

They were all in danger of closure unless new operators were found, as we reported last year.

However, in a newly announced deal, the site in Old Hollow, Malvern, will be run by Acorn Adventure.

Acorn Adventure will also run the centre at Upton Warren, near Droitwich, while Rock UK will take on Llanrug in Snowdonia.

Between them the three facilities are due to lose £337,000 this year, a gap which until now has been met by Worcestershire’s taxpayers.

Under the deal for Llanrug, Rock has pledged to retain all staff and take on the ongoing maintenance costs, as well as pay nominal lease fees.

The contract will start from April and the lease will run for 25 years.

A deal is still being thrashed out for the other two sites. However, once finalised, it is expected to start at about the same time.

That centre was almost closed in 2007, but was kept open after youngsters signed a 1,600-signature petition calling for doors to stay open.

The centre offers a range of outdoor play activities for school-age youngsters.

Speaking before a meeting of the county council’s cabinet, Councillor Marcus Hart, the cabinet member for health, said: “We’ve been discussing this since I first came on this council in 2005 and it’s been a long journey.

“We are in difficult financial times, and while some other authorities have pulled the plug on areas like this, we are not doing that – on balance this is the best solution we are going to get.”

Coun John Campion, localism and communities cabinet member, said: “This protects outdoor education for the children of Worcestershire.

"It’s not perfect, but it’s a damn sight better outcome than we would have had if we’d had taken an earlier decision for closure.

"This is a service where we’ve taken the steps necessary to protect it.”