by David Skentelbery
A WORLD-class youth facility costing up to £6 million could be built in Warrington town centre.
Town Hall chiefs have agreed to continue exploring proposals for a Warrington Youth Zone - a purpose-built facility constructed and equipped to the highest standards in a prominent town centre location.
A site has been identified which could be made available by the borough council at a peppercorn rent on vacant land off Winwick Street.
It would open seven nights a week until 10pm and all day at weekends and during school holidays, aim to attract about 3,000 young people every week and involve more than 300 active volunteers.
Annual running costs could be in the region of £850,000-a-year - of which about £320,000 would be found by the council, Primary Care Trust and other public sector partners.
Coun Sheila Woodyatt, the borough council's executive member for education and children's services, said young people had been consulted and 54 per cent had said their ideal youth provision would be based in the town centre.
Some 76 per cent said they would use a town centre facility if one existed. The council would be able to find a suitable site and a number of private sector businesses were offering support.
Coun Keith Bland, deputy leader of the council said it was an exciting proposal which, hopefully, would not cost the council a penny other than the revenue costs.
He believed it could help kick-start regeneration of the town centre.
But it would be two or three years before it was built.
Council leader Ian Marks said there was "huge enthusiasm" among businesses who wanted to get involved.
The scheme would involve a partnership with Onside North West, a charity set up to facilitate a network of 21st century youth facilities across the region.
Onside have a good track record in raising capital funding and would be responsible for project management, planning applications, architects, construction and ongoing ownership for the project until one year after construction was complete. After that a board with charitable status would be established, on which the borough council would be represented.
Young people who were opposed to a town centre location gave reasons of the cost of travel and concerns about the behaviour of other young people using alcohol, drugs and anti-social behaviour.
Using the Onside model, it is estimated public sector partners would have to find £320,000 a year running costs and private sector partners £215,000.
Fundraising, including grants and trusts, would produce £120,000, membership income would be about £110,000 and income from sales, such as a coffee bar, would produce about £85,000.
*See opinion CLICK HERE
Town Hall chiefs have agreed to continue exploring proposals for a Warrington Youth Zone - a purpose-built facility constructed and equipped to the highest standards in a prominent town centre location.
A site has been identified which could be made available by the borough council at a peppercorn rent on vacant land off Winwick Street.
It would open seven nights a week until 10pm and all day at weekends and during school holidays, aim to attract about 3,000 young people every week and involve more than 300 active volunteers.
Annual running costs could be in the region of £850,000-a-year - of which about £320,000 would be found by the council, Primary Care Trust and other public sector partners.
Coun Sheila Woodyatt, the borough council's executive member for education and children's services, said young people had been consulted and 54 per cent had said their ideal youth provision would be based in the town centre.
Some 76 per cent said they would use a town centre facility if one existed. The council would be able to find a suitable site and a number of private sector businesses were offering support.
Coun Keith Bland, deputy leader of the council said it was an exciting proposal which, hopefully, would not cost the council a penny other than the revenue costs.
He believed it could help kick-start regeneration of the town centre.
But it would be two or three years before it was built.
Council leader Ian Marks said there was "huge enthusiasm" among businesses who wanted to get involved.
The scheme would involve a partnership with Onside North West, a charity set up to facilitate a network of 21st century youth facilities across the region.
Onside have a good track record in raising capital funding and would be responsible for project management, planning applications, architects, construction and ongoing ownership for the project until one year after construction was complete. After that a board with charitable status would be established, on which the borough council would be represented.
Young people who were opposed to a town centre location gave reasons of the cost of travel and concerns about the behaviour of other young people using alcohol, drugs and anti-social behaviour.
Using the Onside model, it is estimated public sector partners would have to find £320,000 a year running costs and private sector partners £215,000.
Fundraising, including grants and trusts, would produce £120,000, membership income would be about £110,000 and income from sales, such as a coffee bar, would produce about £85,000.
*See opinion CLICK HERE
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9 Responses to ""World class" youth centre to cost £6m" 
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said this on 16 Jun 2010 7:46:58 AM BST
What a mix. Chalk and cheese/black and white.
For years this council has been encouraging teenagers to congregate in town and get legless. Now they want a graduation school setting up, to encourage all the (as yet) non-drinkers to gather in town.
Would youngsters really want to travel to this Youth Centre with the chance of being attacked by drug and drink fuelled yobs. Even adults don't feel safe in this environment.
A better option would be to concentrate on the ?Youth Service? and imrove what is available now.
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said this on 16 Jun 2010 8:03:00 AM BST
What are leisure centres for? Could this money been invested in the leisure centres around the town, instead of the threat of closure of them?
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said this on 16 Jun 2010 9:34:50 AM BST
Winwick Road ???? Why on earth are they proposing a new £6 million youth centre on the same road as the new £30 million Orford Park Project ???
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said this on 16 Jun 2010 9:39:23 AM BST
"a coffee bar would produce about £85,000." = £1600 per week or £232 per day.
if for one moment youth would be sat sipping coffee they wouldnt want to pay more than 60p, so they would need to sell close to 500 cups or cans of pop or muffins etc. lets say its open 12 hours a day, thats 41 sales per hour...likely? I think not. However its verry interesting that the council **read Ian Marks and his lackies, think a coffee shop catering only to youth will revenue £85k and yet a coffee shop being a sole outlet in warrington premier tourist attraction open to all ***read walton gardens and therefore people with more disposble income and willing to pay a little bit more than the average (ie £1.50 a coffee) runs at such a vast loss when it suits him.
Take this money and spend it on walton gardens please.
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said this on 16 Jun 2010 9:40:39 AM BST
winwick street not road btw...probably where a previous listed warrington treasure was "accidentaly" knocked down.
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said this on 16 Jun 2010 10:30:53 AM BST
Shame the kids won't be able to use public transport to get home from the centre on a Sunday night given the subsidy cuts to local bus services. Hooray for joined up thinking!
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said this on 16 Jun 2010 1:10:16 PM BST
So the same council which refuses to grant Lymm Youth club and it's group of volunteer organisers a long enough lease to allow them to invest in its future - in case the council decide they want to sell it off next year - the same council which would have to contribute absolutely NOTHING towards it each year in running costs, can suddenly "make available" a valuable prime town centre site for a peppercorn rent, find £6m to build a youth centre, and commit to £320,000 (based on VERY optimistic figures) per year for running costs. Obviously they're far more interested in wasting our money on shiny, flagship projects than they are in actually provided people with services. It's the Bl**dy Skittles all over again!
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said this on 17 Jun 2010 12:46:27 AM BST
What are all these these negative comments for? what have local buses and people's services got to do with it? This isn't about some kind of cost cutting local kid's hang out, or even a North West Regional Youth Recreation Centre of excellence!. This is going to be a " WORLD-class youth facility"!!!!! .......... surely you don't have a lack of faith in our leaders great ' visions for the town'. ?!!!!!!!! :) :) :)
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said this on 21 Jun 2010 1:44:39 PM BST
Some of these comments seem to me to be a rather cynical view on a really exciting project. I would challenge the sceptics to visit the Bolton Lads & Girls club and see a really great example of how such facilities would work in Warrington. Putting a large amount of money into a single central premises allows more of the money to be spent on providing equipment and facilities. True, we would all chose to have these facilities located in our immediate local area given the choice, but for each new centre funded by this project, more of the original fund is likely to be taken up by things like rent, utilities and other overheads. I think this is a really great project and I will certainly be backing it
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