Stubbington Study Centre closure plan: fresh row breaks out as demands made for more information

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The plan to close an outdoor study centre in Hampshire has been slammed because the process has a critical lack of proper scrutiny.

Hampshire County Council’s plan to close Stubbington Study Centre has already “sent shockwaves” through Portsmouth and the city council’s leader said it would be tragic for the 6,000 children who use the centre each year.

Concerns also come from district and borough councillors, as well as the Gosport and the Hamble Valley MPs, who urged the county council to rethink the proposal.

Fresh concerns have been raised over the plan to close Stubbington Study CentreFresh concerns have been raised over the plan to close Stubbington Study Centre
Fresh concerns have been raised over the plan to close Stubbington Study Centre | Hampshire County Council

Now, Cllr Adrian Collet has raised another issue.

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The county council must confirm the plan to repurpose the study centre into a new children’s home by March 31 before the £60 million funding from the Department for Education, which has been offered since last March, can be obtained.

Cllr Collet said that he has received numerous emails, including from three former senior county council officers, now retired, all explaining why the closure of Stubbington would be “an absolutely dreadful move”.

In an email to the leader of the county council, Cllr Collet asked why, of all the lands held by the county and the 11 districts and boroughs, Stubbington Study Centre has been put forward as the only option. “It is very hard to understand,” he said.

In order to make the right decision, he requested a list of every site the council considered before the recommendation was put forward, either on county-owned land or land owned by one of the district councils.

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Cllr Collet said: “In order to provide members with the opportunity to give meaningful consideration to this proposal, I would ask that you instruct officers to tighten up this timetable so that alternatives can be considered without us being told, ‘You can’t do that as there is no time left’.“

But the timetable being followed “is against us”.

The Government announced the funding’s availability in its budget statement in March 2024, yet “here we are having to make a decision by the end of next month or potentially lose the money”, he said.

The public consultation will close on February 10. A member briefing on February 19 will follow it.

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The proposal will be scrutinised at the Hampshire 2050 Select Committee on March 5. Finally, on March 18, the cabinet will make a decision. The government deadline is set for March 31.

“This timetable as it is leaves members painted into a corner – either we agree to close Stubbington or lose the money for Swanwick. We are, in effect, being presented with a fait accompli.”

County council leader Nick Adams-King said that the council is preparing the information to ensure that members have all the information needed to scrutinise any proposal.

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