THE future of Marlborough’s youth centre is still uncertain after it was revealed during an area board meeting on Monday that Wiltshire Council will only rent the building out for three-months at a time while its fate is decided.

Youth facilities in the town and surrounding villages are now the responsibility of Marlborough Area Board and will be overseen by community youth officer Jan Bowra.

For the remainder of the financial year the area board has £14,208 to give to groups looking to arrange activities for 13-19 year-olds and it is anticipated they will be given around £24,500 for the following financial year.

Lisa Farrell, who has spearheaded the campaign to get the youth centre up and running once again, said: “I feel quite let down and upset because the youngsters had their youth centre taken away from them four or five months ago and I’ve been told that I can only rent it for three months at a time because it could disappear after three months.

“How can I tell these children, who feel so let down by this town, ‘you can come in but in three months time we might have to shut again’.

“This is all about the youth, not us, nothing to do with politics.”

An application was put in by the Marlborough Youth Club for £1,762.50 to set up a weekly youth club in the Marlborough Development Centre in St Margaret’s Mead which closed in August following Wiltshire Council cuts.

The money will be used to rent the building from Wiltshire Council, carry out Disclosure and Barring Service checks and for stock.

A proposal was put forward to reduce this figure to £1,262.50 because there had not been enough information provided as to what the money was going to be used for.

However, it was decided to approve the whole grant under the proviso that the group comes back to the area board with a more detailed cost breakdown.

Coun Nick Fogg said: “This money is going back to Wiltshire and I find that rather extraordinary. I can’t understand it “This building is standing empty, nothing is going on there and this is a fantastic initiative. This empty building should be utilised for public use.”

A Local Youth Network (LYN) management group, made up of young people and adults interested in working with 13-19 year-olds, is being set up to identify local needs and make recommendations to the area board on how cash for youth activities should be spent.

The first meeting of the LYN management group is due to take place on December 4.

To get involved with the group email janette.Bowra@ wiltshire.gov.uk or call 07747455746.