Final plans for Burnley's £1m Youth Zone (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Final plans for Burnley's £1m Youth Zone

1:30pm Thursday 28th June 2012 in Burnley By Bill Jacobs, Local government reporter

BURNLEY’S £1million-plus Youth Zone, complete with cafe, music venue and meeting rooms is set to get the green light.

The aim is to use an existing empty Lancashire County Council building near the town centre for the complex, offering a new way to cater for young people’s needs.

The former Meadow Bank adult day centre, near Burnley Crown Court, has been earmarked for the scheme and a major refurbishment is set to get underway.

It is one of five new Youth Zones sharing £10.5 million across the county – in Burnley, Preston, West Lancashire, Wyre and Lancaster.

Now the final touches are being put to the financial package and detailed plans for the Burnley project prior to Lancashire’ Council Council’s cabinet member for young people Mark Perks giving the final go-ahead at a meeting at County Hall, Preston, on August 1.

Work will then start later this year with a view to getting the centre up and running within months.

The scheme in Burnley is based on an existing project The Zone in Nelson which opened in 2011 and a major scheme in Preston being developed out of the original £4.5million budget for the county-wide initiative.

In March an extra £6million was allocated to extend the project to Burnley, Skelmersdale, Fleetwood and Lancaster.

A seperate scheme, the £8million Blackburn Youth Zone, was created by OnSide and opened earlier this month.

As well as providing positive activities, the Youth Zones will be bases for services providing early support to vulnerable young people.

In March Coun Perks promised: “We are underlining our commitment to providing the best possible services for young people.”