Glasgow City Council reverses Blairvadach closure decision

One of Scotland's largest council-run outdoor centres has been saved from closure after councillors reversed a decision to cut its funding.

Staff at Blairvadach Outdoor Education Centre were told on 20 February the facility would close to save costs as part of Glasgow City Council's budget.

A petition to save the centre quickly passed 10,000 signatures.

The council said it would be focusing on an "alternative future model" for Blairvadach.

The centre was saved following the Scottish government's budget deal with the Scottish Green Party, which means an extra £95m will be given to local authorities.

Chris Cunningham, the council's convener for education, said the council's £10.6m share of this money meant Blairvadach, in Argyll and Bute, no longer needed to close.

However, he said the centre's future was "not sustainable under present arrangements".

"Simply saving Blairvadach for another year is not enough in itself," he said. "It is showing its age and has suffered many years of underinvestment. The site requires significant investment running into millions of pounds to deliver a sustainable and viable future.

"We now have the time and space to explore alternatives to its current arrangements. What they may be is something we'll have to work through but we're already exploring what options are best to deliver the investment Blairvadach needs for both residential and outdoor learning."

Following the announcement of the closure, the council said it wanted to focus on a "Glasgow-based model" and use the city's parks and outdoor spaces for outdoor learning rather than residential centres.

However, the decision sparked a backlash from past users of the centre and outdoor education experts who said the model would not provide the same learning experience.

Blairvadach was opened in 1974 and offers week-long residential courses for Glasgow pupils so they can experience activities like sailing, mountain biking, climbing and gorge walking.

The courses are heavily subsidised so all pupils can attend.

There are only seven council-run residential outdoor centres left in Scotland - down from about 70 in 1982.

North Lanarkshire Council's Kilbowie outdoor centre in Oban is due to close this year as part of budget cuts.

The council said it recognised the "great experiences" that pupils had at the centre, but said it was expensive to maintain and that reductions to the revenue budget meant the council subsidy for children to attend was "no longer sustainable".