Experts called in over outdoor centre renovations

Plas Dol-y-Moch was a "huge asset" for Coventry, a council report said.

Building experts have been called in by a city council to help make sure renovations and improvements can be carried out at an outdoor education centre.

Plas Dol-y-Moch, in Eryri National Park, also known as Snowdonia, was a "huge asset" for Coventry but had faced "significant issues" around its development, the local authority said.

A council report outlined some of the renovations needed to the building, including introducing en suite staff accommodation and improving student living spaces.

Faye Parklen, from the local authority, said recent chimney works had prompted them to work with a buildings consultancy which liaises directly with the national park.

The centre was bought by the council in the 1960s and is used for schoolchildren in the city as an outdoor centre.

It is about to celebrate its 60th anniversary and many Coventry residents have stayed there over the years.

Ms Parklen, head of education entitlement and enrichment services at the council, told councillors at a scrutiny meeting that the location of the centre in the national park and its Grade II listed building status had caused problems.

"We have faced significant issues around the development as you can imagine, we have had significant barriers around one area," she said.

"The flood-plain maps that are produced restrict where any development can take place and has limited us significantly and has also impacted on any refurbishment of the building."

Ms Parklen said chimney work had been completed on the main building.

"Plas Dol-y-Moch is amazing and a huge asset for Coventry and we need to protect that with more and more centres shutting, which is a tragedy in my view," she said.

Councillor Robert Thay previously stayed at the centre and described it as a "rite of passage".

"It brings a lot to the kids and if we ever lost it it would would be devastating because I personally know people who have been to Ibiza more times than they have seen a mountain," he said.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.