A BID for a state-of-the-art multi-million pound youth centre in Colchester have been dropped from plans of where to spend £18.2million of Government investment.
The We Are Colchester partnership had included the project in its bid to secure up to £25million from the Government for projects in the town.
However, the group only secured £18.2million from the Towns Fund, meaning investment priorities have had to be adapted.
The Youth Zone project needed £2.1million from the Town Deal fund, but instead the partnership’s board has decided to allocate cash elsewhere to support provision for young people in the town.
Councillor Phil Coleman (Lib Dem, Mile End) had been the driving force behind the proposals.
He said it was a “missed opportunity” as the approximate £8million funding needed was in place through the Town Deal, charity OnSide and other backers.
Mr Coleman said: “I brought this project to the town over two years ago and it was in place and ready to go. This is a serious missed opportunity.
“They have instead allocated £1million to improve the almost non-existent provision, that is just a headline grabber and pales into insignificance given what a Youth Zone would have provided.
“The beauty of a Youth Zone is everything a young person wants is on one site, revamping previous youth provision will not capture young people’s interest at all.
“It’s a tragedy and shows zero vision or understanding of the Youth Zone concept.
“They need a Youth Zone, it is proven to support them through so many activities that actually improve their physical health, mental health, confidence, self esteem, academic outcomes, cut anti-social behaviour and set them up for career progression and indeed for life.”
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Mark Cory (Lib Dem) helped push the project forward as leader of the council.
He said: “To build the youth zone the political will has to be shown now in order to retain the £2.1million which is there.
“I am willing to lobby anyone to make sure we secure such a vital opportunity for our young people.”
Conservative leader of Colchester Council Paul Dundas said the decision was made by the independent We Are Colchester board and had not been made by the new administration.
He added: “I have seen a Youth Zone myself and I was quite impressed by what they are and what they do.
“But it is a big financial challenge to bring it about. It is about £4million in build costs and £500,000 a year to run.
“We would like to see if we could get other political parties involved and sit down and look at other ways of funding it.
"It would be a big chunk of taxpayers’ money, so we need to know we have their support as well.
“We still want to do it but we have been forced to prioritise things.
“We are not taking it off the table and it wasn’t our decision as an administration. We will go out and look for other sources of funds.”
Simon Blaxill, chairman of the We Are Colchester board, added: “The best options were put to the board and the board made the decision.”
Colchester Council's cabinet will discuss the new priorities for where to spend the £18.2 million at a meeting on Wednesday.
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