A petition has been started on change.org calling on the town council to start a ‘community asset transfer’ of the youth centre building from Wiltshire Council to Town Council ownership and so to keep the Youth Centre building for Marlborough’s young people.
The petition – headed “Marlborough people want their Youth Centre back under Marlborough Town Council Control” – has been started by Sara Ross. Two of her daughters have been to the Youth centre for the past four years – “And they’ve got a lot out of it.”
Now her youngest daughter, aged twelve, has nowhere to go: “I’m really angry.” Sara remembers when it was a thriving community youth centre with a tuck shop and café – and held fetes with well-known people opening them.
She fears it will go the same way as Marlborough’s open-air swimming pool and paddling pool which was bequeathed to the town council and sold for housing. As the wording of her petition says: “Marlborough Town Council own the land the building sits on and why the running of it was ever taken over by the County is unknown…”
The petition continues: “Wiltshire Council have recently reduced all funding to youth services across the county. This has included Marlborough Youth Centre. Having closed it’s doors at the end of last year, the youth centre building is now believed to be under threat from Wiltshire Council, who will only agree to leasing the building for a twelve week period, leading us all to believe that they plan to sell and redevelop this piece of land.”
Sara is sure there are organisations which would be glad to find a base there and help pay for the upkeep – such as the thriving Marlborough Academy of Dance and Drama currently perching in St Mary’s School and with 150 young people on its books.
You can find the petition here.
Since youth provision funding was cut by Wiltshire Council and a new youth policy was brought in, several town councillors lead by Councillor Lisa Farrell and including Councillors Hall, Light and Cook, will soon start running youth club sessions at the building. But it is generally agreed that starting a youth club that only has a twelve week life ahead of it is not a good proposition.
It is not at all clear whether the building is now even on the Council ‘s books as being a youth centre – as youth centres like Marlborough’s have been consigned to history. Nor is it clear what the Town Council’s attitude toward the building really is. At Council meetings there has been vocal support and words of congratulation for Lisa Farrell and her colleagues. But no long-term solution has been sought.
