Titchfield Haven nature reserve: Hampshire County Council decides to sell off visitor centre

The decision to dispose of the centre was made in the hope of selling it to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust.

The sale was originally proposed to tackle a £1.8m budget shortfall associated with the site.

Speaking to councillors, Dame Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport said: ‘I completely understand the really difficult and testing financial backdrop against which the council is operating.

'I sometimes feel that when we're facing such difficult financial prospects it's easy to make the wrong decision or a knee-jerk reaction rather than thinking long-term about our responsibilities for the stewardship of our area.

'These proposals have not only angered local residents who see the sale of these buildings as catastrophic to the local community but also those who really value the nature reserve, those who come from a really long far away.

'We know that when sites are facing closure it's normally because they're not well attended, well this one is, or it's because they're not making a profit, well this one does.'

The site was recently listed as an Asset of Community Value by Fareham Borough Council after it was requested by the Hill Head Residents’ Association.

For the next six months the buildings can therefore only be sold to the residents’ association.

Executive member for countryside, culture and communities, Councillor Russell Oppenheimer agreed to close it on December 23.

He said: 'We have 81 countryside sites - that's millions of visits a year and every week we have maintenance requirements.

'The important point here is that if we were to continue to subsidise the cafe at Haven House we wouldn't be able to do that work as effectively.

'So for that reason, I am not able to agree that the health and wellbeing of the wider community is served by keeping the cafe open on this occasion.

'Another argument, that was initially quite seductive, is being put to me that the loss of goodwill and the loss of the trade will be a setback for the community

'It's our judgement that the trade will come back if Haven House is successfully transferred to the wildlife trust and reopened.’