Urgent talks on future of village youth centre

URGENT talks are to take place between Croft Parish Council and members of the volunteers who run the village youth centre to try and secure the centre’s future.
The popular centre, which caters mainly for the village’s young people, is owned by the borough council by run by a voluntary management committee.
Hundreds of local youngsters make use of the centre.
But the borough council wants to change the arrangements – and both the parish council and the management committee fear the changes could make it impossible for the centre to continue.
Parish council chairman Cllr Keith Bland (pictured) said: “We have had direct talks with a borough representative who essentially has put forward two options. One, the council would give the centre to the management committee on a long lease, with the committee becoming responsible for all the cost of maintaining the building.
“The other would be for the borough to take over the building and introduce a set of fees standardised across the 21 similar centres across the borough.
“We fear that neither option would work for Croft. Fees would have to rise in either case and this would result in groups ceasing to use the centre.
“Some of the 21 other centres can’t be compared to Croft – many are community centres with a bar and rooms they can let out for weddings, parties, etc.  It makes no sense to try and standardise charges across all 21 centres.
“We don’t want to lose the youth centre. The parish council is to meet the management committee and try and come up with a business plan . We think there must be a half-way house that would allow the centre to stay open without having big increases in fees.”