Charity 'not consulted' about centre closure
Friends of High BorransA charity trying to save an outdoors centre has said it is disappointed it has not been consulted ahead of its closure.
High Borrans at Windermere, Cumbria, is being shut down by its owner North Tyneside Council in November, which cited a £3m maintenance bill and a decline in use.
Cabinet member for education councillor Tracy Hallway previously said cuts would need to be made to foot the bill of a site "over 100 miles away", but Friends of High Borrans member Brooke Lemm said the charity was willing to apply for grants and continue its work helping to run the centre.
The council referred back to its previous statement and said it had no further comment to add.
The local authority said the closure decision was "difficult but necessary", as fewer than half the schools in North Tyneside now visited High Borrans, with others using alternative providers for outdoor learning.
It also said the council had to pay £250,000 a year in property maintenance, £180,000 a year subsidising the centre due to rising operating costs, and additional money to subsidise children's visits to the centre.
But Lemm, from Coniston, said young people would "miss out on key programmes that help with life skills".
She suggested the site could be used for other purposes, such as a space for children with additional needs and their families, or that ownership could be shared with another organisation or authority.
'Worth that investment'
Thousands of youngsters have visited the site, which has operated as an outdoor centre since 1967.
Hallway said during a council meeting last week the debate could not "simply be about nostalgia" but "whether North Tyneside Council can responsibly continue to own and operate a residential outdoor education centre over 100 miles away in the Lake District".
But Lemm said: "The centre should remain open not just simply [for] nostalgia but the whole ethics of that outdoor experience.
"It helps children develop functional life-skills - teamwork, independence, confidence, listening, working with each other - they're fundamental for life."
She said the programmes offered by the centre were particularly important to young people from difficult socioeconomic backgrounds or who were struggling with mental health problems, like anxiety.
"It is worth that investment for these opportunities for young people," she said.