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14
Jun 2023
Council to press ahead with Nidderdale Children's Centre closure
North Yorkshire Council looks set to press ahead with the close of a children’s centre in Pateley Bridge.
The authority has proposed to close five centres across the county as part of cost cutting measures.
Among them is Nidderdale Children’s Centre, which is based at St Cuthbert’s Church of England Primary School in Pateley Bridge.
The council has recommended consulting on closure of the facility, which it says has not reopened since the covid pandemic.
Instead, officials have proposed giving the space back to the school in a bid to save the authority £13,400 a year.
Council officials launched a consultation back in March over the planned closure.
In a report due before the authority’s executive next week, the council said just one response was received in relation to the Pateley Bridge facility.
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The respondent did not agree with the closure and cited “lack of resources within the locality, requesting that the centre be retained for the development of groups to support children and their families”.
In response, council officials said:
The centre opened in September 2010 as a designated children’s centre. It was backed by £590,715 worth of Sure Start funding from the Department for Education.
The council said it does not anticipate that the government will request any of the money back.
Centres in Eastfield, South Craven, Kirbymoorside and Wensleydale will also be considered for closure.
Senior councillors will consider the proposal at a meeting on June 20.
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