The derelict Youth Centre on the regeneration site
The derelict Youth Centre on the regeneration site is on land owned by East Devon District Council. The Youth Centre was run by Trustees who handed the lease back to EDDC in August 2006. The various groups which used the Centre (ballroom dancing, table tennis, short mat bowls, indoor boot sales, etc) were given notice by EDDC on 21 December 2006 and since then it has remained empty.
According to an officer of EDDC it was decided that the building was too run down to continue in use so they closed it. There is no money at EDDC to refurbish it or to keep it going. Margaret Rogers (our District Councillor) tried to get money from Devon County Council (DCC). They were supposed to send a surveyor to look at the building before making a decision but he never went. DCC has done nothing further as far as EDDC knows.
All the officer could think of as a way of raising money was for the Scout Hall in Scalwell Lane to be sold off for housing development and the money to be used for a new youth centre. NO NO NO. Once EDDC gets its hands on land in Seaton it uses the money for things like purchasing 250 acres of wetlands on the marshes for itself. There is no way of ring-fencing Section 106 money so that it is spent on replacing lost facilities (we have all seen that). So, forget that. (And, if you are involved with that building at the moment, be afraid, be very afraid).
EDDC Estates thinks it will cost at least £10,000 to get the building in order - possibly more. However, they are reluctant to do this because, if they do, they will have to bear the cost of buildings insurance and they don't want to do that.
Let me just remind you again that EDDC has ear-marked £300,000 plus for a new Honiton Community Centre - which will also get upwards of £500,000 from the developer who wants to build houses near the current Tesco.
I have wondered in the past which EDDC officer(s) live in Honiton as it seems to be rivalling Sidmouth these day with all the new facilities it is attracting!
So, our teenagers kicked in the teeth for the sake of maybe £10,000 to put the building right and (let's say) a couple of thousand pounds a year to keep the place running (no more than that because there would be some money from renting it out to the people who used it in the past and to others wanting meeting facilities).
Sold down the Swannee again, Seaton.
posted by Fighting for East Devon's future @ 10:07 am
10 Comments:
I notice that the new-look Axe Valley Midweek Herald has an item on the affordable housing crisis in Honiton
It seems Mr Lowe could have been speaking equally well about Seaton, perhaps that should be its own entry.
just who decides to close a building that is being actively used and who are they accountable to? What protests were made by our Town Council on behalf of residents? What questions have been asked on behalf of former users by our district councillors?
Both conservatives and liberal democrats have been putting out leaflets reminding us that they'll want our votes soon - where are they the rest of the time?
Who decides to close it: EDDC. What protests were made by the Town Council - several I think. What questions have been asked: at least one or two by the Lib Dems, none by the Conservatives (unless you count the councillor from Exmouth at the November 2006 meeting who insisted on keeping youth facilities in the Liatris plan (unfortunately, they still don't figure anywhere, but that's just a minor detail).
Have the youth of Seaton been shafted: definitely.
Does EDDC care: not a jot.
I subscribe to the theory that our youth are the future. In common with all major assets the more that is invested the greater the returns. EDDC obviously feel that our youth are worthless and undeserving of support. Pretty rich when you consider the vast amounts squeezed out of us in our council tax year on year. I wonder what the outcome will be, not pleasant and not pretty I would hazard a guess.
I'm with you. I just don't know what we have done to deserve this. Someone said today that they had been to Ottery and seen all the youth facilities there and wondered why we didn't have any. Well, EDDC - why?
I'm with you. I just don't know what we have done to deserve this. Someone said today that they had been to Ottery and seen all the youth facilities there and wondered why we didn't have any. Well, EDDC - why?
which district councillors live in Ottery? They have a hospital with a minor injuries unit too!
David Cox, Conservative
David Key, Conservative (he is shown as Otterhead Ward so I guess that is near Ottery)
Tony Wilkinson, Conservative, Ottery Rural
There may be others as some wards have names that don't show which is the nearest town.
The 2006 Offsted report on Youth Work in Devon (see it on devon County website) says they should "establish a presence in all major towns in the county."
Wonder if that includes Seaton?
You mean "major" as in "Seaton is a major gateway town to the Jurassic Coast" - which roughly translates as - "so give them a crappy Visitor Centre so small you can barely see it". Yep, I reckon they mean that kind of "major".
Post a Comment
<< Home