Dry ski centre avoids closure – for now – but prices will have to rise

SCOTLAND'S major all-weather ski centre has been given a stay of execution as council bosses battle to cut the running costs of the complex.

Europe's longest artificial slope, at Hillend, in Midlothian, will remain open until at least August while its operators search for help to keep it running in the longer term.

But price rises and job cuts are to be rolled out by Midlothian Council over the next months while officials explore options to safeguard the long-running Hillend centre's long-term future.

The council has admitted for the first time it may not be able to keep the facility running unless it can completely remove the need for it to be subsidised.

A sale of the complex and a long-term lease are both being considered by the council, which has faced growing protests over its running of the complex.

The local authority subsidises the loss-making complex to the tune of more than 500,000 every year, but has warned it can no longer afford to meet this cost in the face millions of pounds of cuts elsewhere in its budget.

The council has run Hillend, officially known as Midlothian Snowsports Centre, since it inherited the complex in 1996.

The council confirmed yesterday that it wanted to completely remove the burden on the taxpayer in Midlothian, as the authority issued a fresh plea for "national funding" to be found to bail out the ski centre.

However, despite the council warning of the centre's financial plight almost a year ago, neither SportScotland nor the Scottish Government has been able to pledge any significant resources.

The council, which has warned the centre is projected to lose 564,000 in the current financial year, has revealed it would have to fork out 1.2 million to mothball or demolish the complex and pay off all of its staff.

It is instead proposing to save about 217,000 over the next few months by axing a handful of jobs and hiking up prices for the use of the centre.

A report for councillors states: "There is a significant risk that in the current financial climate the council will no longer be able to keep the centre open unless the operating deficit is reduced to zero or there is significant external assistance and financial support provided."

Donald MacKay, director for education and communities, said: "We have a good relationship with Sportscotland and welcome their help and advice as we try to tackle the deficit at the centre.

"We want to see the centre work as it is an asset for Scotland.

"But we are facing some tough decisions, with a 25m cut in funding expected for us in the next four years, and we have to look very closely at every aspect of the way the council works."

Twenty-nine Olympians – including famous names such as Finlay Mickel and Alain Baxter – have used its slopes to hone their skills.