Wirral Council are proposing to transfer the day to day operations of the Wirral Sailing Centre to another organisation in order to save money.

Wirral Sailing Centre is a unique and vital resource for anyone interested in watersports. Run by Wirral Council it has enabled inclusive and cost effective access to a wide range of watersports activities available for all ages and levels of experience for windsurfing, dinghy sailing, kayaking and more. The Wirral Sailing Centre is a registered RYA Training Centre.

In addition to the extensive teaching programme that Wirral Sailing Centre currently offers to schools and individuals alike, the centre also operates special sessions that cater to the needs of specific groups. These include:
Special needs groups working with children, many of whom have Down's Syndrome, & West Kirby Residential school among others
Wirral's "Intensive Family Intervention Programme" for troubled families
Operation Banger, which brings in young teenagers on a Saturday evening (keep kids off the streets and engage them in something active)
Wasp (Wirral Alternative Schools Programme)
Early Intervention Group
Youth Inclusion Programme
UK North Blind Sailing Association
Drug/alcohol rehab groups.

The proposed changes will also affect many other user groups, including West Kirby Sailing Club, Wirral Disabled Marine Association, various sea scout groups, T15 youth windsurfing club, many individual licence holders etc.

The Council’s proposal is based on it saving £25,000 of the £15.5m it reportedly requires to save over the next year.

Of the total savings needed this represents just 0.16%.

Yet the Wirral Sailing Centre has a value, importance and contribution to all sectors of our local community that far outweighs this minimal amount.

We believe that losing a vital centre for water sports activity, that is inclusive and accessible to all, merely to recoup a tiny fraction of the savings the Council needs to make is the wrong decision and needs to be challenged.

Please help us by signing this e-Petition and join the many hundreds of local residents who have already signed our paper petition. We need to reach 3,000 signatures by the 31st October 2014.

Started by: Martyn Collins

This ePetition ran from 06/10/2014 to 31/10/2014 and has now finished.

478 people signed this ePetition.