Companies come forward to save Towers Outdoor Education Centre
Two companies have come forward to save the under-threat Towers Outdoor Education Centre after proposals were put forward to axe it.
The facility, based in Betws-y-Coed, has been run by Wolverhampton Council for 59 years – but needs £600,000 to bring it back up to standard.
Now council chiefs have revealed two businesses, which have not been named, have come forward to run it – with discussions set to start with them.
But it was revealed the authority’s “preferred” option is still to close it down and auction it off, despite the interest.
The centre was visited by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge back in 2015.
Emma Bennett, director of children’s services, said: “They are very early approaches and we will consider them seriously and have those discussions.
“The council’s preferred option is still to sell it but the two parties have come forward and we will start conversations with them.”
Councillor Dr Mark Hardacre stressed the talks would be “advanced as far as they can be advanced” to reach an agreement.
It comes after a survey of 1,600 youngsters revealed a need for more services and activities in Wolverhampton.
Councillor Sohail Khan said: “It’s a great place and I’ve got an attachment to it.
"I can realise and relate to what people are saying, but we’ve also got a responsibility of corporate governance.”
Councillor Paula Brookfield said members needed to listen to young people – who wanted services in the city, and said the authority couldn’t afford to plough the extra cash into it to just retain the service.
Sale will not generate ‘big cash pot’
Wolverhampton Council is not expecting a “big pot of money” if the Towers Outdoor Education Centre is sold off, a chief has said.
A total of £144,000 is spent each year to run the North Wales centre, which costs a total of £449,000 and brings in £305,000 by itself.
Now bosses say closing down the site permanently and auctioning it off – a proposal being considered – won’t generate that much money, due to the costs in getting in back up to shape.
It comes after Councillor Rita Potter, chair of the scrutiny panel, asked whether the money from Towers would be ring-fenced for education purposes.
Councillor Dr Michael Hardacre, cabinet member for education and skills, said: “Unless there’s a very interested party to fund work, starting at a more than £800,000 investment over two years, the chances of getting any sum of money is not viable – because nothing else can be done with it because of the planning rules.
"There’s no big pot of money. The money allocated to the budget is what we have spent on it – the £144,000.
"Capital receipts [when the asset is sold] to the council can’t be ring-fenced, although the financial officers can decide a sum of money can be moved.”
A report, putting forward each option being considered by the council, said the annual cost of running it would be around £430,000 as work is carried out.
‘We simply do not have the money'
Towers Outdoor Education Centre needs a reported £200,000 and a further £400,000 for structural works to meet health and safety rules, says Wolverhampton Council.
And then further costs – ranging up to £1.1 million – would be incurred to refurbish and modernise the building.
Councillor Hardacre highlighted national changes in explaining the authority’s position.
He tracked the funding issue back to 1998 – the start of local financial management for schools, which saw the majority of Government grants going to schools.
Before that date, councils used to be in charge of the budget. Now at least 95 per cent of the funding is handed across nationally, with the figure in Wolverhampton being 97.5 per cent.
The additional two-and-a-half per cent has to go through the School’s Forum where it’s decided how it’s spent.
“The result is that control of the curriculum and the money for children’s education centres are not with the local authority, but with schools," he said.
"There’s no magic money tree – the budget is about £6 million, with £3.5m of that going immediately onto transport needs for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).”
