ANGRY residents have turned out in force to a public meeting to discuss the placement of a youth shelter in Petersfield. The meeting was meant to highlight a suitable location for the shelters, but the opinion of many attendees was that there was little need for such a structure at all. Around 60 people attended the meeting, at St Peter's Hall last Thursday, but there was a distinct lack of young people present. Meeting chiefs said it could be down to a number of clashes, including a prom night at The Petersfield School, a Euro 2008 football semi-final, an EHDC youth council forum meeting, and the fun fair at Bell Hill all taking place on the same evening. Town councillor Hilary Ayer said: "The town council has already made that decision (to have a youth shelter). We are looking at areas you think we should have a youth shelter." However, with several sites already earmarked as possible locations, the public gathered at the meeting showed an overwhelming lack of support for the youth shelter. Councillors hoped the meeting would help them make a decision as to where to put the shelter, but they were met with confrontational responses from residents who questioned the point of having a youth shelter in the first place, turning the council's plans on their head. Suggested locations such as The Heath and Love Lane were virtually dismissed out of hand, while new locations like Penns Place, The Square and the King's Arms off Heath Road were suggested as alternatives. David Jeffery, of Woodbury Avenue, said: "I have a suspicion we are being presented with a fait accompli. Speaking as chairman of The Petersfield Society, our overwhelming opinion was 'why do we want a youth shelter at all?' "We have a brilliant youth theatre, lots of activities for kids, sports clubs, a superb football club, so what are we doing this for? "We should clear the King's Arms, which is a shambles and a disgrace, and rebuild it as a proper youth centre. "The whole whole youth area should be in one place. What are we doing trying to invent something that is totally surplus to our needs?" Town councillor Chris Jenner feared a "piecemeal" approach to the project could also lead to a shambles and suggested The Square as a possible location. He said: "None of the sites really fit the criteria. It needs to be well lit, supervised, near sports facilities and teen-appropriate play equipment, which apart from Paddock Way, none of them are." He warned putting the shelter near young children's play equipment, for example at The Heath, would lead to "conflict and confrontation". Petersfield Town Football Club chairman Ian Essai said: "Maybe they do need a shelter and a place to hang out," after recent weeks have seen his club's Love Lane ground subject to vandalism, following parties in the stand. He said: "I am not too sure if this shelter is going to resolve this issue. We should be looking at the whole picture. There is nothing in this town for 16 to 19 year olds. They cannot get into the pub, and they cannot go to the King's Arms, as they do not want to hang around with the little ones." Youth worker Dave Ashton said you did not have to go far from here to see where they have worked, with successful examples in Havant and Haslemere. He said: "The young people enjoy them and appreciate them." He added that young people were more likely to use the climbing frames more as a seat than as a toy. Petersfield Town Council has already agreed in principle to have a youth shelter, and East Hampshire District Council has secured the funding necessary for the project. Provided a suitable spot could be found on town council-owned land the development was not expected to require planning permission. The youth shelters cost £11,000, which includes the cost of surfacing and an associated climbing frame. EHDC received Lottery money to fund the project. The shelter itself is likely to be nine feet high and 8.6 feet wide, and designed to seat nine people. At the meeting, maps of possible locations were laid out for people to leave their comments. The main locations were Love Lane playing fields, The Heath, The Avenue playing fields, Paddock Way, Borough Road recreation ground, and Bell Hill recreation ground. Comments left about the locations, for councillors to take into consideration before they make their decision, included: n Love Lane: "Give the residents around the field a break. Too much focus already with the skatepark. It is a magnet for under-age drinkers and large groups every weekend and any night during the summer." n The Avenue: "It has enough vandalism here from youths, so why encourage them to stay longer and interrupt the tennis courts that are so good now?" n The Heath: "The Heath is Petersfield's jewel and the home for nature. Efforts are being made to improve The Heath and all its environmental heathland character. Please do not add any further disturbance." There were some positive comments, including support for Paddock Way: "Great place, will fit into the surrounding area and play equipment." Another read: "If we cannot show that we care about our kids, then we cannot expect them to care about us." EHDC community project workers organised the meeting to explain to people what the youth shelter was, and why the young people in the town wanted one. Chris Patterson tried to allay fears of trouble around the youth shelters and pointed out that East Hampshire was the second safest district in the county and one of the safest in the country. He said EHDC-run citizenship classes found the youth shelter in the top 10 things young people wanted to see in their area, along with things like a cinema and a skatepark. He said the idea behind a youth shelter was to give young people a place to "hang out informally, meet and chat. An actual area they can go and sit and relax". However, a public respondent said: "They do that at The Heath at the moment, and they vandalise everything that is down there." Petersfield Town Council clerk Neil Hitch said that consulted youths had been in favour of the shelter and that residents, while views were mixed, still held the balance in favour, by a margin of 60 per cent. He said: "The Heath was top of the list as far as the youngsters were concerned, and it came out very well with the residents as well." Prior to the public meeting, 235 young people and 194 residents in Petersfield had been asked for their comments and thoughts on the youth shelter. Petersfield Town Council will discuss the findings of the meeting at a full council meeting in August or September, when it was hoped they will make a final decision on where to position the controversial youth shelter. Town mayor Vaughan Clarke said: "The town council will have difficult decision to make."
