The Hucclecote Centre currently provides office accommodation for staff, who will now move to Shire Hall, and is a training and conference facility for schools. As part of plan to reduce the amount of buildings from which it operates and save £45million to minimise cuts in front-line services; the Hucclecote Centre will close.
To help the council decide on the future use of the site, they will soon begin a consultation with local people to hear their views. Hucclecote County Councillor Bill Crowther has stated that the closure will have an impact on the local communities, who also have various interactions with the site and its grounds. At his request part of the consultation will be in the form of a drop-in session at the centre. He is hoping that as many local people as possible will use this facility to have their say.
Before the consultation can begin there is to be an archeological survey on the site as there could be significant Roman remains beneath it. This will be on Feb 21st. and if anything is found it is hoped to get local schoolchildren involved in the dig.
Despite making a slight profit from its training & conference facilities the site runs at an overall loss. There are also maintenance issues, which could cost £2.3 million. Due to school budgets allowing increased flexibility to buy training from providers chosen by the school, the training at the centre has already decreased by 50%. Staff remaining at the centre will be relocated to Shire Hall between now and September 2011. The centre will close as a conference facility in March 2011.
See more–>Hucclecote Centre to close
