Council set to approve £6 million Youth Zone plan

TOWN Hall chiefs at Warrington will be asked next week to approve proposals for a £6 million Youth Zone on council-owned land in the town’s Stadium Quarter – with the council providing £3 million.

It is expected the facility will cost about £1.25 a year to run, with the money coming from the private sector.

The Youth Zone will be provided in partnership with OnSide – who have already successfully developed nine similar zones in other areas, including Wigan, Bolton, Blackburn – and Warrington Youth Club.
Originally it was intended to use the former Mr Smith’s Club site for the development, but after it was destroyed by fire this became unavailable and the council has been working since then to identify an alternative location.

The Stadium Quarter has been identified, and the  preferred site is council-owned and about 3200 square metres in size. Talks are continuing with OnSide and retained architects over the building specifications, layout and positioning. Planning consent will be required.

Youth provision will still be provided elsewhere in the borough. But Warrington Youth Club, currently based at the Peace Centre, will be refocused in terms of the location, the facility, the activities, the hours of operation and the numbers of young people accessing the service.

The Youth Club and OnSide have committed to provide a fleet of mini-buses to assist young people travelling to the Youth Zone.

There will be close working between the Youth Zone and the council’s youth service.

OnSide will commit to raising the balance of £3 million construction costs and source all funding required to operate the Youth Zone, proactively fundraise and take on all responsibility for construction, planning applications and community consultation. They will engage local young people to help shake the Youth Zone.

Inside, the Youth Zone will have a wide range of sporting and artistic activity spaces, including a sports hall, climbing wall, a dance and performing arts studio,  martial arts and boxing gym,  fitness suite, music room, film and multi-media suite, arts, crafts and fashions areas, café, etc.
There will be a multi-use 3G outdoor sports pitch.

Youngsters will have to pay a £5 annual membership fee and 50p fee on every visit.

Based on evidence from other Youth Zones, the Warrington facility should result in improved health and well being for young people, active lifestyles, reduced obesity, etc.

In Oldham, police have reported a 40 per cent reduction in juvenile nuisance calls since the |Youth Zone opened and in Harpurhey a 19 per cent reduction in anti-social behaviour.

Warrington has 28,000 young people aged 8-19 – the age range who will use the Zone – and it is expected it will have a membership of 3,000 by the end of the first year, with a total of 5,000 visits per month. This is expected to rise by the third year.

Young people in Warrington have been consulted and out of 1,986, some 64.2 per cent felt there were not enough things to do in the borough.  Nearly 87 per cent felt young people would use the Zone but this fell to 74.5 per cent when asked if they would use it themselves.

Members of the borough council’s executive board will be asked next week to choose from three options – to do nothing,  to take on the whole project itself, or – the recommended option – to agree to the partnership with OnSide.

They will be told that Youth Zones have been found to reduce the average cost to a council of anti-social behaviour, crime, youth offending, arson, youth unemployment and children in care – and that applied to Warrington there would be a potential to save the council and its partners £3,059,108 a year.