Centre's future 'cannot be based on nostalgia'
BBCA closure-threatened outdoor education centre should not remain open simply because of "nostalgia", its council owner has said.
High Borrans at Windermere, Cumbria, is owned by North Tyneside Council, but the authority has proposed shutting it in November saying it needs a £3m investment and fewer of the borough's school children are using the facility.
Campaigners bidding to save it gathered outside the council's Cobalt Business Park headquarters ahead of a meeting on Thursday.
Conservative councillors later called on the Labour-led authority to reverse its plan, but that motion was rejected.
Thousands of youngsters have visited the site, which has operated as an outdoor centre since 1967.
Councilor Tracy Hallway, cabinet member responsible for education, inclusion, employment and skills, said she knew what High Borrans "has meant to generations of children and families" as well as "the value of outdoor education".
But she added "this debate cannot simply be about nostalgia".
"It has to be about whether North Tyneside Council can responsibly continue to own and operate a residential outdoor education centre over 100 miles away in the Lake District.
"So I have a straightforward question for every councillor supporting this motion - what would you cut to pay for it?
"Adult social care? Children's services? Road repairs? Libraries? Parks?"
'Completely unacceptable'
The authority has maintained the facility requires about £3m in order to stay compliant, despite £900,000 being spent there in recent years.
It says it has also subsidised the venture by about £165 per child, including the £62,000 per year allocated for out-of-borough pupils.
Recent attendance figures indicated the centre had been used by 1,255 pupils from Years 5 to 8, out of a potential cohort of 9,300, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
High Borrans is a non‑statutory, contracted service.
Schools choose whether to use the centre and in recent years many have opted for alternative providers.
Earlier in the debate, Reform UK opposition group leader councillor Brian Smith said: "We are here to steward this establishment for the children of this borough.
"There is no way we cannot find a way to finance and refurbish it for the future generations that are coming through.
"Just to close it in the way we are doing is completely unacceptable."
