Former youth club building

Former youth club building

The former Abergele Youth Centre situated on Market Street in Abergele is a large, ageing building in need of repair.

Currently this facility sits within the Youth Service portfolio but is no longer used by the youth service due to the location and internal structure.

Abergele Youth Club has relocated to the Canolfan Dinorben Family Centre, which provides more modern facilities and is better located for activities at Abergele Leisure Centre.

Cllr Julie Fallon, Cabinet Member for Education, said, “The move has strengthened the youth provision offered in the area, and ensures that our youth service budget is spent on youth activities rather than maintaining an old building that needs significant investment to bring it up to modern standards.”

“Unfortunately, bookings for the building haven’t returned to the same level as before Covid, which has also had a financial impact on the service trying cover the building’s annual running costs.”

A number of community groups are still using the building, but only parts of the building are used and only for about a third of the available time. The groups have been notified and advised of alternative facilities in the area.

The building will close at the end of September.

The building will now go through the Council’s asset disposal process, which will look for alternative uses and/or disposal to secure the future of this Grade II listed building.

Notes

In 2020, it was calculated at £1million needed to bring the building up to modern day requirements.

The income currently generated from community use of the building is just £11k, which falls far short of the annual running cost of £33k.

The building will continue to be available to the existing community groups over the summer, but we will not be taking any bookings for dates after Friday 29th September, 2023.

The Council’s asset disposal process involves looking at whether the building would be suitable for another Council service, or for other public sector organisations. If no alternative use is found permission will be sought to place the property on the open market.