Petition to save beloved Stubbington Study Centre garners 4,500 signatures in two days

The Change.org campaign comes as a result of Hampshire County Council’s proposal to close Stubbington Study Centre to create a new specialist secure children’s home.

If the proposal is agreed by the council, it will close the centre in September 2025 and start building the new home.

This means that schools, other organisations, and individuals will no longer be able to use the centre and would need to find an alternative site.

Schools, parents, and the Hampshire community have come together to prevent the closure by launching the ‘campaigning to save the Stubbington Study Centre in Fareham from closure’ petition. At the time of writing, 4,609 people have signed it.

Laura Mcvinnie, who started the petition, said losing Stubbington, which currently offers a raft of activities to help team building and environmental awareness, would “sever a lifeline for lifelong learning”. She said it would also “deny future generations the experiences that have become a cherished part of growing up in Hampshire”.

She added that the campaign aims to preserve not just a building but “a key element of our community, a treasured heritage and a tradition that connects past, present and future”.

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Ingrid Smith, a supporter of Laura’s petition, adds: “To sacrifice one group of children in order to facilitate another group of children is illogical, immoral and inexplicable. Is there no one in power or authority with the intelligence, ingenuity or imagination to ensure that both groups are protected?”

In the consultation, the council said Stubbington had more than 4,500 guests staying overnight and nearly 2,000 day visitors in the year to March 2024.

But county council leader Councillor Nick Adams-King said there was high demand for specialist residential care and, with government funding, there was a “unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity to create a state-of-the-art residential home here in Hampshire”.

Schools, other organisations, and residents have until Monday, February 10, to share their feedback using the online form on the county council’s website. Alternatively, responses can be emailed directly to [email protected].

Following the consultation, the Hampshire 2050 and corporate services select committee will scrutinise the proposal to repurpose the Stubbington Study Centre site on Wednesday, March 5.

Subject to the committee’s agreement, the proposal would be submitted to cabinet on Tuesday, March 18.