Problems for youth venue

The odds are stacking up against a drop-in centre for young people in Uckfield just when its value is being recognised in the town.

As organisations work together to find ways of taking youngsters off the streets, the Youth Zone, which has been doing that successfully in a small way since opening in 1996, is in difficulty.

Wealden Council will not renew planning permission for the continued use of 109 High Street because of concern about the lack of a rear fire escape. This was a worry flagged up when temporary permission was granted and efforts to solve the problem have so far failed.

Senior planning officer Chris Elphick said: 'They should continue discussing things with us to try and resolve it. Failing that the implication is that they ought to be finding somewhere else that is safer.

Uckfield Youth Trust has been looking for alternative premises but chairman Andrew Newnham said the costs were prohibitive. Only one possibility was still being considered and that was the Bellbrook Centre which was large enough for a number of organisations to share.

But the trust has other problems too. It desperately wants to open the Youth Zone more regularly but only has access to a youth worker to man the centre once a fortnight. And they are finding it almost impossible to recruit volunteers to support the youth worker.

Mr Newnham said he was pinning his hopes on something positive coming out of the forum of organisations currently working in Uckfield to find ways of diverting youngsters from the streets.

'This place is desperately needed. Without it the problems of youngsters congregating in the town might get worse. We desperately need youth workers to form relationships with young people in the town, they are bored and directionless with time on their hands, said Mr Newnham.

The attraction of the Youth Zone is that the young people do not have to sign in. They can drop in for five minutes or for the whole evening, chat with friends, use computers, bring a video to watch or play pool.

'We provide somewhere warm and dry for them to meet, said Mr Newnham.The odds are stacking up against a drop-in centre for young people in Uckfield just when its value is being recognised in the town.

As organisations work together to find ways of taking youngsters off the streets, the Youth Zone, which has been doing that successfully in a small way since opening in 1996, is in difficulty.

Wealden Council will not renew planning permission for the continued use of 109 High Street because of concern about the lack of a rear fire escape. This was a worry flagged up when temporary permission was granted and efforts to solve the problem have so far failed.

Senior planning officer Chris Elphick said: 'They should continue discussing things with us to try and resolve it. Failing that the implication is that they ought to be finding somewhere else that is safer.

Uckfield Youth Trust has been looking for alternative premises but chairman Andrew Newnham said the costs were prohibitive. Only one possibility was still being considered and that was the Bellbrook Centre which was large enough for a number of organisations to share.

But the trust has other problems too. It desperately wants to open the Youth Zone more regularly but only has access to a youth worker to man the centre once a fortnight. And they are finding it almost impossible to recruit volunteers to support the youth worker.

Mr Newnham said he was pinning his hopes on something positive coming out of the forum of organisations currently working in Uckfield to find ways of diverting youngsters from the streets.

'This place is desperately needed. Without it the problems of youngsters congregating in the town might get worse. We desperately need youth workers to form relationships with young people in the town, they are bored and directionless with time on their hands, said Mr Newnham.

The attraction of the Youth Zone is that the young people do not have to sign in. They can drop in for five minutes or for the whole evening, chat with friends, use computers, bring a video to watch or play pool.

'We provide somewhere warm and dry for them to meet, said Mr Newnham.