Last-ditch attempt to save Bedfordshire’s outdoor activity centre from closure fails
A last-ditch attempt to overturn a decision to close an outdoor education centre in Wales, has failed.
The decision was made at an extraordinary meeting of Bedford Borough Council’s Environment and Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee, after councillors concluded they had “no concerns” about the move.
Councillor Doug McMurdo (Independent, Sharnbrook) led the call-in of Executive Decision 1812, which authorised serving notice on the Harpur Trust to terminate the council’s lease on the Dinorwig-based outdoor education centre.
Councillor McMurdo told colleagues the closure case was based on unreliable evidence.
“The financial figures quoted in various documents… are erroneous at best, not consistent, and I put it to you wholly unreliable,” he said.
Referring to consultancy reports that put annual energy costs at £213,000, he added: “I’m staggered, absolutely staggered, that we’ve paid money, commissioned third parties, not one but two, and they tell us Blue Peris and White Peris is costing £213,000 in energy costs. That accounts for 18 per cent of energy across the leisure sites.”
He argued the site had the potential to turn a profit if given proper backing.
“This is not about saving money,” he said. “This is about removing something that I firmly believe will and can make money for this authority, given the right leadership, the right approach, the culture and actually empowering those on site to deliver what the centre is capable of doing”.
Portfolio holder for customer experience, councillor Sarah Gallagher (Conservative, Shortstown) defended the executive’s decision, stating: “The centre has run at a deficit every year since 2014/15, with an average annual deficit across the financial years 2014/15 to 2024/25 of over £140,000.”
She told members only five Bedford Borough schools had used Blue Peris in 2024 and 2025, adding: “The ongoing cost of the service cannot be justified on the basis it is primarily subsidising usage by schools and groups from outside the borough.”
Councillor Gallagher acknowledged she had not visited Blue Peris or met staff.
She said: “I’m basing [the decision] on what officers and what GLL [the council’s leisure contractors] and Harper Trust have said.”
Head of leisure and culture Tom Perrett sought to clarify disputed data.
“The energy cost incurred by the council are approximately £15,000 per year,” he said, explaining that the much higher figure cited elsewhere came from external reports with different accounting assumptions.
On the decision-making timeline, he told the committee: “What is absolutely true, because it’s being stated in the report, is that there’s no provision for the centre in the budget from October of this year.”
After hearing both sides, the committee resolved it had “no concerns about the decision, in which case the decision will become effective and capable of implementation on the committee’s determination being reached”.