Published: Friday, 29th August, 2008 11:20am

Fury as youth centre plans are thrown out

by Alan Bunce

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PLANS to build a youth centre in the countryside have been rejected -despite the decision coming down to a split vote.

In a recorded vote at a Bracknell Forest Council planning meeting, Cllrs Mike Beadsley, Jim Finnie, Clifton Thompson, Tony Virgo and Jan Angell voted against the recommended refusal to build an octagonal youth club at Oakwood Farm in Waterloo Road.

But Cllrs Andy Blatchford, Michael Brossard, Colin Dudley, Tony Packham and David Worrall voted for the refusal, with chairman Worrall's vote being the decisive one.

The decision last Thursday was met with disbelief from some of the councillors, who heard the owners would have to pay £64,000 in developers' contributions if the scheme was approved.

Cllr Finnie said: "This would be a fantastic asset for our community and we should be supporting it in every way possible. It is something that our borough could be proud of and it would keep youngsters occupied in a positive way."

But chairman Worrall was not satisfied the applicant, Tony Pudner, had provided a proper sustainability statement or addressed the fact the plans were not considered appropriate for a countryside location.

He said: "We are a planning committee, not a children's services committee, so we must consider this application under planning criteria only.

"This is supposed to be a drop-in centre, so the children could come from many different directions. I don't think the impact that this would have on traffic has been properly considered."

Cllr Dudley said Peacock Lane was a ‘main artery' road for the A329, and if the club did accommodate 200 children on three nights per week as proposed, there would be a significant increase in traffic.

However, he encouraged the plan to be resubmitted.

He said: "Let's have a transport statement and see how mini buses would be used to take children to and from the youth club so we could predict the traffic flow."

Only one objection letter had been received.