Plans to revamp Chesterfield children’s centre could be in jeopardy

The council has extended a public consultation into proposed changes for two disabled children’s centres including the Chesterfield-based Outback Early Help outreach service and the Ilkeston-based Getaway Short Break service as an alternative to closing them.

But as The Outback faces an uncertain future, design and property consultants Concertus said the county council has given them planning permission to create a new building for The Outback and for the council’s Spire Lodge children’s home which also shares the same site on Sheffield Road.

A council spokesperson said: “The plans to rebuild the Outback and Spire Lodge date back some time, before we started the consultation on the future of the Outback.

“One of the proposals for the Outback is to keep the service, so should this go on to be the case we will carry on with the plans to rebuild both services as we had previously decided.

“Obviously should the decision for The Outback eventually be different we would then look again at the plans for the site.”

Remodelling service plans for The Outback – which supports disabled children in their own homes and helps with outreach support to prevent children going into care – hope to save on costs with more work focused on preventing children going into full-time care.

The council is therefore continuing to seek views during an extended consultation on stopping or refocusing the Early Help services for families with disabled children provided by The Outback.

The council is also looking for views on either closing The Getaway building – which provides residential short breaks or care to disabled children – or reducing its capacity for Short Breaks and converting the centre from a Short Break home to a longer-term home for children with full-time care for three youngsters aged between seven to 17.

The overall needs of the children receiving overnight Short Break care are also being re-evaluated and those who still need such care may be assessed under proposals for placements at Spire Lodge, in Chesterfield, and The Willows, at Chinley, in the High Peak, with support from The Outback.

A council report highlighted the proposed remodelling of The Outback and The Getaway could save over one-and-a-half-million pounds over two years.

The original two-week public consultation which formally ended on March 24 already includes concerns about the possible closure of The Outback and The Getaway with worries about about service reductions, the strain on families, higher costs for councils, and the impact on families if services were reduced or stopped.

Proposed changes come at a time when the authority is considering the closure of ten other Early Help Services and Children Centres and the future of its day opportunity centres and short break support residential units for adults with learning disabilities.

The other ten Early Help Services and Children’s Centres facing possible closure include Holme Hall and Old Whittington in Chesterfeld, Alfreton, Ironville, Langley Mill, Bolsover, Hadfield, Gamesley, Matlock, and Charnos in Ilkeston.

Design and property consultant Concertus stated its consultants will be designing a new building on behalf of the council which aims to be split into three areas including Spire Lodge children’s home, The Outback centre, and emergency accommodation.

It added that the current site is no longer functional due to the deteriorating condition of some of its buildings, its vast layout, and the Spire Lodge building’s original design as an elderly people’s care home which poses safety issues for site users.

Tom Marshall, Concertus Design and Property Consultatants’ Operations Director said the new building would be an excellent step towards modernising the service provision for the council.

He added that as a central hub it would integrate numerous services which would making it much more cost-effective and beneficial to the community.

The public consultation into the council’s proposed changes for The Outback and The Getaway is avaiable on the council’s website with an online questionnaire at derbyshire.gov.uk/outbackgetawayconsultation with full details.

Paper copies are also available at both The Getaway and The Outback centres and by emailing [email protected].