Outdoor education centres closed until end of the year

Both outdoor education centres in Monmouthshire could be closed until the end of the year and staff will be furloughed until October, a council report has revealed.

The outdoor education provision overspent by £116,000 in 2019/20 and early indications suggest there could be a £350,000 overspend at the end of 2020/21.

The council says that some of this could be recovered through Welsh Government funding.

The report proposes that both Hilston Park and Gilwern Outdoor Adventure Centres remain closed until the end of December 2020 because of reduced numbers due to the coronavirus pandemic.

It says: “The sites closed on March 20 because of coronavirus but both sites experienced reductions in the weeks prior to that as schools made decisions to withdraw from bookings because of health concerns.

“This led to further reductions in income of £47,000.”

The service currently employs 19 staff who have all been furloughed until the end of October. If the sites remain closed, it could see the staff redeployed to other areas of Monmouthshire council.

The report asks the cabinet to consider a one-site approach at Gilwern because a two-site strategy is not viable in the short or medium term.

It says: “Re-programming of spaces at Gilwern has given greater opportunity for selling meeting, conference and bookings space in buildings/rooms that are predominantly empty for most of the day.

“During the winter term, the Gilwern site was also able to offer accommodation to groups for board and lodging, resulting in extra income of £56,000 when the site was scheduled to be unoccupied for school groups.”

Due to the coronavirus, the report says a total of £356,000 in bookings have already been cancelled and there’s unlikely to be any demand for the rest of the year.

The report says: “It is assumed that residential bookings will start to recover by spring 2021 but numbers are still likely to be less than those enjoyed in 2019/20. “

The Gilwern site is the preferred option in a one-site strategy as it the larger of the two sites, it is a level site, offers accessible accommodation and is more cost effective to operate

The report will be considered by cabinet on July 29 (Wednesday).