The decision on who will be running Stone youth centre when it is closed by Staffordshire County Council on 31st December has been put back to March.
Stone Town Council submitted an official bid to take on the centre off Station Road at the beginning of this month and a decision should have been made by the county council on 15th December. That decision date has now been delayed to allow discussions to take place between the town council and the county council.
Stone Town Council clerk Les Trigg said: “Stone Town Council has been informed by the County Council that its submission to operate Stone Youth Centre has been considered. The County has indicated that it wishes to support the Town Council in relation to its aspirations for the future use of the Centre and discussions are ongoing. In line with the process being followed for other similar facilities, the County Council’s decision will be given on 6th March 2015.”
Town council leader Councillor Philip Jones is suggesting a change of name to Stone Sports and Community Centre if the bid succeeds. He said: “To take this over is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The sports hall itself, recently refurbished, is a fantastic asset. Whilst I was looking round I asked a group of young people what they would like. All of them wanted a climbing wall – well why not? If we succeed, the Council will be open to suggestions from sports teams, individuals, community groups of all ages and interests.”
Councillor Joyce Farnham added: “I do hope that our bid is accepted. It will save the sports field for the three schools that use it and also keep open the pre-school and post-school club which is so important to working mums.”
3 comments
Peter Calvert
I understood STC were going to hand the Frank Jordan back to SBC as it was losing usage and requires significant maintenance/renovation expenditure. Surely the Station Road premise is a good exchange as a recently renovated building with regular clientele.
As STC do not publish any minutes of recent meetings it is impossible to know what to make of the FC v Youth Centre argument. Come on STC now you have a functioning website start to publish up to date information so people can engage in an informed debate.
Alex lewney
I think this is good news…? 🙂 we can certainly carry on helping each other into 2015! I love the idea of a climbing wall, would be fantastic! I know previous attempts have struggled with insurance issues but it’s a brilliant sport, and I’d urge anyone to get involved at Awesome Walls or Kilnworx:-) they might even advise on how to go about making a good facility and things to consider
Councillor Mrs Jill Hood
I read with interest and amusement the press release with comments by town and borough councillor Phil Jones who also just happens to be our County Councillor for Stone. No wonder he’s standing smirking when as a county councillor he and his county colleagues are responsible for the imminent closure of Stone youth club and axing other children’s services throughout the county. What a coup for him to publicly proclaim how he is to be the saviour of the Youth Centre in Stone and persuade Stone Town Council to take on the running of this very expensive building using public money, when in his role as county councillor he agreed to close it to save money. I, like other people in Stone desperately want facilities for our young people but why on earth are we being railroaded into something we can’t afford especially with the promise of an excellent leisure facility and play area coming at Westbridge Park. It would be a shame to lose the centre when 3 schools and after school clubs use it but If it’s such a financially viable proposition then why aren’t a queue of bidders lining up to take it on?