Reform councillors in North Tyneside are urging residents to continue supporting a petition to save High Borrans, ahead of its August deadline for signatures.
Following the council’s Labour administration’s refusal to reverse and re-examine the closure of its Cumbria-based outdoor education centre, Reform opposition councillors are calling for residents to support the beloved institution through an existing petition. The Labour group voted down the motion at the last full council meeting, except Chirton and Percy Main councillor Rebecca O’Keefe.
Petition details and support
The petition, authored by a former High Borrans Young Leader, Megan Rowan, has been live since June 30 and has gained 2,300 signatures. The petition can be found on North Tyneside Council’s website.
A statement from North Tyneside’s Reform UK group states: “The petition currently stands at 2,300. All of the Reform UK North Tyneside councillors are against the closure and will continue to look at what we can do to put pressure on the Mayor and her cabinet to keep the centre open.”
Council's defence of closure
At last week’s full council, the cabinet member responsible for education, inclusion, employment and skills Coun Tracy Hallway defended the council’s decision to close the site by November this year, and prepare it for sale.
Coun Hallway said: “Alternative delivery models and transfer arrangements were examined before the decision was taken. Now the decision is public, discussions are taking place with organisations in the outdoor education sector.
“But let me be absolutely clear. Any future proposal must be financially viable. It must cost North Tyneside Council taxpayers nothing. It cannot rely on the ongoing Council subsidy. It cannot expose the Council to further borrowing, future maintenance liabilities or additional financial risk.”
Financial challenges and usage
The local authority states that the facility requires about £3m to keep running, 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.
