My speech at Norfolk County Council today in favour of saving Holt Hall. The screengrab is of the vote - 'For' - to save it and 'Against' to close it. Thetford remains a town of two halves - me voting to save, and my Conservative colleague for Thetford East voting ermmmm yeh, the other way.
It is without doubt, that over its 70 years Holt Hall has helped to positively shape the lives of children and young people and made a significant difference to many individuals. It is without doubt that Holt Hall is a Norfolk treasure. As someone that has benefitted from using Holt Hall as a child, and as a former youth worker, I am not surprised at all with the sheer number of people that have come forward and made clear that they do not want to see it closed. A latent passion for many, but one not called upon by the Council as it has expressed no desire thus far to save Holt Hall, no interest in looking at options or developing a working business plan. That passion for Holt Hall has come from parents, teachers, members of the local community and young people themselves. I was struck by the comments recently of April Haywood, a member of the Youth Parliament for North Norfolk, who said: “Once Holt Hall is gone, it is gone. I fear this decision will be regretted when children miss out. When you improve education, you improve the lives of children and everyone benefits”.
April is probably too young to recall some of the many other services for children and young people that we have already lost. The closure of Holt Hall would be but the latest assault on children and young people in our county. Connexions, now gone. Norfolk Youth Service, deleted. A network of children’s centres across our county, redesigned with dozens closed. Funding for Norfolk Arts Service, reduced. The value of many of these services never truly appreciated until after they’ve gone. The impact on children and young people too often immeasurable.
The YMCA calculated that Norfolk has experienced some of the most severe cuts to youth services in the UK with reductions in funding of more than 90% over the past decade. It is now a county with some of the least amounts of funding made available to children and young people. Norfolk County Council recorded the sixth highest percentage drop in funding. Frankly, children and young people are too easily seen as an acceptable target for cuts. They are so often the demographic that cannot speak out. The cumulative impact of so many cuts to services for children and young people is extreme.
Being a Councillor is about making choices. It’s about priorities. We’re told that the reason for selling Holt Hall is because it has become unaffordable - an annual loss of £60,000. The annual cost of the interest alone, just the interest on borrowing for the Norwich Western Link is going to be £460,000 a year, at a minimum, for this Council.
We’re told that the Holt Hall cost will be over 10 years, some £600,000. That cost for is not insurmountable, it has been dressed up to sound expensive, but it is not. In comparison - the lifetime cost of borrowing for the Norwich Western Link will be a minimum, an absolute minimum of nearly £23million.
As a percentage of the borrowing alone for Norwich Western Link, that Holt Hall cost over 10 years is just 2.6% - bearing in mind of course that the cost of borrowing is likely to increase and if there was a meaningful focus on increasing income for Holt Hall, a focus on a robust business plan, and life post-Covid, then of course that cost, that deficit highlighted, is likely to decrease.
Norfolk County Council is further at risk of becoming the Council that fails to recognise value. A Council that places a greater value on the land at Holt Hall then it does on the value of outdoor education, a Council that can see the value in the bricks and mortar at Holt Hall, but fails to see the value of life-enhancing and life changing opportunities for Norfolk’s children.
I urge members of the Council to support this proposal and support Norfolk’s children, Norfolk’s parents and Norfolk’s educators. Holt Hall should remain open, with a robust plan to ensure that it breaks even, so that it can continue to serve children and young people for another 70 years in the same way it has thrived and grown over the past 70 years.
