The Welsh Harp Environmental Centre has been thrown a lifeline after its closure last summer. Brent Council has allocated £30,000 to repair the classrooms that are in very poor condition and were flooded during the winter.
The Council has reached an agreement with Thames 21 to run classes at the Centre from April, ahead of the May local election, Thames 21 gave up running the Centre in Summer 2025 because of the high running costs but have now agreed to return. No details have been released on the financial arrangements that would ensure viability in the future and the charges that will be made to schools. At the time of closure the charge was £5 per pupil. Primary schools across the borough are facing budgetary problems, including those caused by falling pupil numbers, so the charge will be an important factor.
A petition was launched after the closure announcement that reached 401 signatures LINK despite the fact that schools were on holiday when the campaign got underway.
The petition urged the Council:
We residents and people who work or study in Brent call on Brent Council to undertake a full scoping exercise to enable the work of the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre (WHEEC) with primary age children to continue. This work, which has been going on for more than half a century is even more important at a time of a climate and ecological emergency. It is imperative that the generation that will be dealing with this emergency in the future are enabled to experience and appreciate the natural world that is now under threat.
Brent Council in today's Press Release hints at a possible return to the original idea that space would be provided in the 16-25 Skills Centre planned for the site:
Brent Council is also working on longer-term plans for a larger, permanent home for environmental education at Welsh Harp where, among other things, young people with special educational needs and disabilities will be able to access a range of training opportunities, including horticulture. ·
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