Activity centre used by generations of children set to close
POPULAR BURRS ACTIVITY CENTRE TO SHUT DOORS AFER ‘LACK OF FUNDING’
With our residents we have developed a fantatsic park Bury Council chief executive Pat Jones-Greenhalgh
AN activity centre where thousands of children enjoyed school trips and days out is set to close.
Bury Council has confirmed the Burrs Activity Centre, which held activities such as abseiling, kayaking and archery, is set to shut its doors at the end of the year.
Bosses from the centre, which has been run on behalf of the council by Burrs Activity Centre Limited for the past 20 years, claim there has been a lack of investment from the authority.
The activity centre became a well known and popular destination for school trips, with youngsters across Greater Manchester taking part in outdoor pursuits.
A review will now be held to investigate how the activity centre can compliment Burrs Country Park, where the centre is based, in ‘realising its full potential.’
Outdoor pursuits will still be provided within the park in the future, the council say.
A new stop of the East Lancashire Railway was opened in the park last year, and the park remains a ‘key element in the town’s burgeoning tourism portfolio’, according to Bury Council.
Coun Alan Quinn, the council’s cabinet member for the environment, said: “Thousands of children have enjoyed Burrs Activity Centre, and the Council would like to take this opportunity to formally thank the staff, volunteers and directors of Burrs Activity Centre Ltd for all their hard work, dedication and commitment over the last 20 years and wish them well for the future. “In line with the Burrs Strategy, adopted in 2015, a review will now be undertaken by the Friends of Burrs, the Burrs Strategic Development Group and Bury Council, all of whom are fully committed to making the most of Burrs, retaining an outdoor pursuits offer within the park, and creating a sustainable facility fit for the future.” Pat Jones-Greenhalgh, chief executive of Bury Council, said the park will get ‘even better’ in future.
She said: “It is hand in hand with our residents that we have developed our fantastic park and it is just about to get even better.
“We are very grateful to Burrs Activity Centre for its commitment over the past twenty years in providing an excellent service and sad to see the doors closing at the end of this year.
“We are incredibly proud that we have retained Green Flag status for more than a decade, opened the new East Lancs Railway Station at Burrs and extended the Caravan Club site as well as installing a new sculpture.
“We have a bright and exciting vision for the future supported by the Burrs Strategy adopted in 2015, and a review of the activity centre will now take place to look at the wider role the centre should play in Burrs Country Park and how it is sustained.”