By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
Security shutters will be installed on a popular reservoir visitor centre after a series of break-ins.
Nottinghamshire County Council has approved its own plans for the Mill Adventure Base, at King’s Mill Reservoir, following recent incidents.
One councillor said it was a ‘shame’ the authority had had to resort to the measures.
The council says the centre’s intruder alarm was activated in April, October and December last year as well as four times in January.
A break-in on March 1, 2022, led to a window being boarded up, while two separate attempted break-ins during the same month also led to broken windows.
It led to the authority bringing forward plans for two full-height roller shutters to be installed on the large building.
These will protect the glass looking into the cafe area, with a shutter box to also be installed to further protect the site from vandalism.
The council runs the building as part of its wider Mill Adventure Base site, which offers outdoor activities and watersports to school children.
It features a cafe building and boathouse and offers outdoor activities like zip wires and climbing, as well as watersports like sailing.
The new shutters were approved at the county council’s planning and rights of way committee on Tuesday (February 28).
In the meeting, Councillor Richard Butler (Con), the committee’s chairman, said: “It’s a shame that anywhere like this has to even be considered for putting security shutters up.
“No shutters, whatever they are, are particularly attractive – but they’re there to do a job.
“These will be used when the place is closed so there shouldn’t be any people around, and the only people who are likely to be there are the people who might be up to no good or thinking they might break in.”
The meeting heard there was an objection from Ashfield District Council, the landowner of the reservoir site, over the proposed shutters.
The authority raised concerns the shutters wouldn’t be “attractive” and would “foster a perception of criminal activity”.
The district council said: “Roller shutters make an area less attractive and can create a feeling of hostility and foster a perception of criminal activity, which can lead to less footfall.
“Internal security measures can also provide visibility into premises, whereas external shutters can mask activity inside.”
However, the county council opted to maintain its plans for external shutters on the building.
Cllr Paul Henshaw (Lab), who represents Mansfield West, welcomed the new shutters.
He said: “I think it’s quite a good idea because there have been a number of break-ins that cause major disruption.
“There have also been a number of attempted break-ins which, if they were successful, would also cause a lot of problems.”
As part of its plans, the county council also approved the installation of an additional 233 solar panels on the boathouse and cafe to cover the majority of the building.
Some of the site is already covered by these panels, with the electricity generated from the extra panels to power electric vehicle charging points for the site’s minibus fleet.
