Day centre to stay open after U-turn

CAMPAIGNERS are celebrating a successful fight to stop the closure of a Kings Norton disability centre after Birmingham City Council agreed a U-turn.

Plans to close the Fairway Day Centre in Kings Norton were formally approved in July this year, but were halted in November after the High Court agreed to grant an interim order.

Lawyers acting on behalf of service users and families had claimed the closure of the centre was unlawful due to an inadequate consultation process.

Now Birmingham City Council have now accepted that the consultation ‘fell short’.

It has agreed to settle the case with a ‘consent order’ which will quash the decision to close Fairway Day Centre, meaning the vital site will remain open.

Campaigner Wendy Collymore, whose father uses the centre along with 50 others, said: “We are absolutely over the moon that the council has reversed its original decision to close the centre.

“It is an incredible community facility that makes a massive difference to dozens of families in the local area and the thought of losing it created a huge amount of fear and uncertainty. It is a fundamental part of its users’ lives and the closure would have led to a lot of turmoil and upset.”

Oliver Carter, from lawyers Irwin Mitchell, said as the council conceded the case, it would pay their client’s legal costs.