Thousands object to Titchfield Haven visitor centre closure plans

Local residents calling for the centre to be saved have put signs up outside their houses

Thousands of people have objected to plans to close and sell a visitor centre at a nature reserve.

Hampshire County Council wants to sell off Haven House at Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, near Fareham.

The council said the move would "tackle a projected £1.8m funding gap" over the next three years.

But campaigners described the proposals as "unintelligent and narrow-minded" and said 10,000 people have signed a petition objecting to the plans.

Pamela Charlwood, co-chair of Hill Head Residents' Association, said the amount of petition signatures was "notable".

The sale would include the centre's reception, café and shop, as well as Haven Cottage, an empty Grade II listed residential building.

But Ms Charlwood said: "It's not just a cafe. That centre provides information spanning 10,000 years about local history and ecology and the environment, it's the meeting place for local groups - and there isn't anything else in that area."

Money from the sale of the two buildings would go back into supporting the reserve, the council said

Campaigners think there are other ways to manage the centre "more effectively and far more productively", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Councillor Sean Woodward, leader of Fareham Borough Council, said the sale of the centre would be an "enormous retrograde step".

He confirmed that the Hill Head Residents' Association made an application to the borough council for the building to be listed as an asset of community value.

Should the council approve the application, there will be a delay of six months before the county council can sell the building, Mr Woodward explained.

The county council has stressed that no decision has been taken and people have time until 23:59 GMT on Tuesday to have their say on the proposals.

The authority said the plans were developed to address "a significant anticipated funding shortfall" and to prioritise "increasingly limited funds towards the management of the national nature reserve, including protection for its wildlife habitats and improvements to visitor access to the site."

A final decision is expected to be made on 8 December.