Council takes over much-loved outward bound centre
It was confirmed at the start of this year, after seven decades providing educational away days for young people, Colomendy would close with immediate effect.
Tenant Kingswood Colomendy Ltd and its parent company, Inspiring Learning Ltd, both ceased trading and administrators were appointed.
The council will now begin the process of securing the long-term future of the site in Loggerheads, near Mold, where generations of children stayed.
Prior to entering administration, Kingswood – which is expected to be dissolved later this year – undertook a period of marketing aiming to sell the site but a buyer was not found.
The council purchased the 130 acre (0.5km) location in 1957, which includes a Grade II listed manor house, from which the site takes its name, and was used as staff accommodation but fell into dilapidation.
The main building is Glyn Alyn, which opened as a boarding school in 1969 with five tower blocks providing dormitories.
All buildings require comprehensive refurbishment, according to the council, which also said a series of single storey timber dorms have "exceeded their life expectancy and require repair/modernisation or demolition".
Councillor Nick Small, cabinet member for growth and economy, said Colomendy "means a lot to many people in the city".
"People who have grown up in the city will have spent some time there," he said.
However, he said it was important the authority now did the right thing for the taxpayer.
The council has no money to cover any costs associated with Colomendy.
It is estimated the city will use its corporate contingency budget to cover £600,000 including business rates liability, security along with utilities and management costs.
If the city council retains the site, valued at about £220,000, beyond this financial year, capital investment would be needed.
The council will no longer receive the annual rent of £81,307 until it has another tenant.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service understands the council's preferred option is for an outdoor education firm to take on the lease.
It is expected the full appraisal and handing over of terms to a preferred bidder could take up to 12 months
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Liverpool City Council
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Wire
25 minutes ago
- Business Wire
Domo Announces Timing of its Second Quarter Fiscal 2026 Earnings Conference Call
SILICON SLOPES, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Domo (Nasdaq: DOMO) today announced that results for its second quarter fiscal 2026 (ended July 31, 2025) will be released on Thursday, August 28, 2025, after the close of the market. The company will host a conference call at 3:00 p.m. (MT) / 5:00 p.m. (ET) to discuss its financial results with the investment community. A live dial-in is available at (877) 484-6065 or (201) 689-8846. A live webcast of the event will also be available on the Domo Investor Relations website at A replay will be available at (877) 660-6853 or (201) 612-7415 with the access ID#13755353 following the completion of the conference call until 11:59p.m. (ET) September 28, 2025. About Domo Domo is an AI and Data Products platform that helps companies of all sizes leverage data and AI to drive value in today's data-driven world. Built around our customers' preferred data foundation, powered by our award-winning solution, and enriched with our partner ecosystem, the Domo platform enables users to prepare, visualize, automate, distribute, and build end-to-end data products that provide solutions across the entire data journey. From hydrating your data foundation, to building fully embedded applications that can be shared with your employees and customers, to deploying AI models across a variety of providers, Domo gives users the ability to build data products that generate measurable value for the business. For more information, visit You can also follow Domo on LinkedIn, X, and Facebook Domo Disclosure Channels to Disseminate Information Domo investors and others should note that we announce material information to the public about our company, products and services, and other issues through a variety of means, including Domo's website, press releases, SEC filings, blogs and social media, in order to achieve broad, non-exclusionary distribution of information to the public. We intend to use the Domo Facebook page, the Domo LinkedIn page, the Domo blog, the @Domotalk X account and the @JoshJames X account as a means of disclosing information about the Company and its services and for complying with the disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. The information we post through these social media channels may be deemed material. Accordingly, we encourage investors and others to monitor these social media channels in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. The social media channels that we intend to use as a means of disclosing the information described here may be updated from time to time as listed on our investor relations webpage.
Yahoo
41 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Adam Schefter shares troublesome update on Steelers' Cam Heyward contract talks
Steelers fans received some bad news just days before the preseason opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars — as DT Cameron Heyward is reportedly seeking a restructured deal, but talks haven't gone smoothly. ESPN's Adam Schefter broke the news on Thursday, claiming Heyward hasn't fully practiced at training camp as he looks for a restructured deal — with his sources revealing that talks have stalled. "With little fanfare, Steelers four-time All-Pro defensive tackle Cameron Heyward hasn't fully participated in practice yet this summer as he awaits a restructured contract that has not gotten done, per sources," Schefter wrote on X. "Heyward is scheduled to make $14.75 million this season, with $13.45 million of that already having been paid as a roster bonus in March. Heyward is seeking a raise in a defensive market that has experienced a reset this offseason. Heyward and the Steelers have addressed this privately, but have not made any progress on any reworked deal, per sources." Heyward signed a three-year, $45 million extension in September 2024 — but it appears the 36-year old veteran looking for another payday after arguably one of the best seasons of his career last year. This situation is worth monitoring with nearly 30 days until the Steelers' regular season opener — and we at Steelers Wire will keep you updated as more information becomes available. For up-to-date Steelers coverage, follow us on X @TheSteelersWire and give our Facebook page a like. This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Steelers, Cam Heyward making no progress toward new deal, per report
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Going online in Russia can be frustrating, complicated and even dangerous
TALLINN, Estonia — YouTube videos that won't load. A visit to a popular independent media website that produces only a blank page. Cellphone internet connections that are down for hours or days. Going online in Russia can be frustrating, complicated and even dangerous. It's not a network glitch but a deliberate, multipronged and long-term effort by authorities to bring the internet under the Kremlin's full control. Authorities adopted restrictive laws and banned websites and platforms that won't comply. Technology has been perfected to monitor and manipulate online traffic. While it's still possible to circumvent restrictions by using virtual private network apps, those are routinely blocked, too. Authorities further restricted internet access this summer with widespread shutdowns of cellphone internet connections and adopting a law punishing users for searching for content they deem illicit. They also are threatening to go after the popular WhatsApp platform while rolling out a new 'national' messaging app that's widely expected to be heavily monitored. President Vladimir Putin urged the government to 'stifle' foreign internet services and ordered officials to assemble a list of platforms from 'unfriendly' states that should be restricted. Experts and rights advocates told The Associated Press that the scale and effectiveness of the restrictions are alarming. Authorities seem more adept at it now, compared with previous, largely futile efforts to restrict online activities, and they're edging closer to isolating the internet in Russia. Human Rights Watch researcher Anastasiia Kruope describes Moscow's approach to reining in the internet as 'death by a thousand cuts.' 'Bit by bit, you're trying to come to a point where everything is controlled.' Kremlin efforts to control what Russians do, read or say online dates to 2011-12, when the internet was used to challenge authority. Independent media outlets bloomed, and anti-government demonstrations that were coordinated online erupted after disputed parliamentary elections and Putin's decision to run again for president. Russia began adopting regulations tightening internet controls. Some blocked websites; others required providers to store call records and messages, sharing it with security services if needed, and install equipment allowing authorities to control and cut off traffic. Companies like Google or Facebook were pressured to store user data on Russian servers, to no avail, and plans were announced for a 'sovereign internet' that could be cut off from the rest of the world. Russia's popular Facebook-like social media platform VK, founded by Pavel Durov long before he launched the Telegram messaging app, came under the control of Kremlin-friendly companies. Russia tried to block Telegram between 2018-20 but failed. Prosecutions for social media posts and comments became common, showing that authorities were closely watching the online space. Still, experts had dismissed Kremlin efforts to rein in the internet as futile, arguing Russia was far from building something akin to China's 'Great Firewall,' which Beijing uses to block foreign websites. After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the government blocked major social media like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as Signal and a few other messaging apps. VPNs also were targeted, making it harder to reach restricted websites. YouTube access was disrupted last summer in what experts called deliberate throttling by authorities. The Kremlin blamed YouTube owner Google for not maintaining its hardware in Russia. The platform has been wildly popular in Russia, both for entertainment and for voices critical of the Kremlin, like the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Cloudflare, an internet infrastructure provider, said in June that websites using its services were being throttled in Russia. Independent news site Mediazona reported that several other popular Western hosting providers also are being inhibited. Cyber lawyer Sarkis Darbinyan, founder of Russian internet freedom group Roskomsvoboda, said authorities have been trying to push businesses to migrate to Russian hosting providers that can be controlled. He estimates about half of all Russian websites are powered by foreign hosting and infrastructure providers, many offering better quality and price than domestic equivalents. A 'huge number' of global websites and platforms use those providers, he said, so cutting them off means those websites 'automatically become inaccessible' in Russia too. Another concerning trend is the consolidation of Russia's internet providers and companies that manage IP addresses, according to a July 30 Human Rights Watch report. Last year, authorities raised the cost of obtaining an internet provider license from 7,500 rubles (about $90) to 1 million rubles (over $12,300), and state data shows that more than half of all IP addresses in Russia are managed by seven large companies, with Rostelecom, Russia's state telephone and internet giant, accounting for 25%. The Kremlin is striving 'to control the internet space in Russia, and to censor things, to manipulate the traffic,' said HRW's Kruope. A new Russian law criminalized online searches for broadly defined 'extremist' materials. That could include LGBTQ+ content, opposition groups, some songs by performers critical of the Kremlin — and Navalny's memoir, which was designated as extremist last week. Right advocates say it's a step toward punishing consumers — not just providers — like in Belarus, where people are routinely fined or jailed for reading or following certain independent media outlets. Stanislav Seleznev, cyber security expert and lawyer with the Net Freedom rights group, doesn't expect ubiquitous prosecutions, since tracking individual online searches in a country of 146 million remains a tall order. But even a limited number of cases could scare many from restricted content, he said. Another major step could be blocking WhatsApp, which monitoring service Mediascope said had over 97 million monthly users in April. WhatsApp 'should prepare to leave the Russian market,' said lawmaker Anton Gorelkin, and a new 'national' messenger, MAX, developed by social media company VK, would take its place. Telegram probably won't be restricted, he said. MAX, promoted as a one-stop shop for messaging, online government services, making payments and more, was rolled out for beta tests but has yet to attract a wide following. Over 2 million people registered by July, the Tass news agency reported. Its terms and conditions say it will share user data with authorities upon request, and a new law stipulates its preinstallation in all smartphones sold in Russia. State institutions, officials and businesses are actively encouraged to move communications and blogs to MAX. Anastasiya Zhyrmont of the Access Now digital rights group said both Telegram and WhatsApp were disrupted in Russia in July in what could be a test of how potential blockages would affect internet infrastructure. It wouldn't be uncommon. In recent years, authorities regularly tested cutting off the internet from the rest of the world, sometimes resulting in outages in some regions. Darbinyan believes the only way to make people use MAX is to 'shut down, stifle' every Western alternative. 'But again, habits ... do not change in a year or two. And these habits acquired over decades, when the internet was fast and free,' he said. Government media and internet regulator Roskomnadzor uses more sophisticated methods, analyzing all web traffic and identifying what it can block or choke off, Darbinyan said. It's been helped by 'years of perfecting the technology, years of taking over and understanding the architecture of the internet and the players,' as well as Western sanctions and companies leaving the Russian market since 2022, said Kruope of Human Rights Watch. Russia is 'not there yet' in isolating its internet from the rest of the world, Darbinyan said, but Kremlin efforts are 'bringing it closer.' Litvinova writes for the Associated Press.
