days since planning permission was originally granted on 12th May 2021.
Residents across the Bookhams have been asking the Bookham Youth & Community Association (BYCA) and Bookhams Residents’ Association (BRA) if the planned new Youth and Community Centre is ever going to be built?
Update - November 2024
The BYCA and BRA have been working together and with MVDC and SCC to get the new, and long overdue, Youth Centre built in Bookham. We promised to provide updates to keep Residents in touch with developments, and we now have three pieces of encouraging news.
1) Surrey County Council which is funding the building of the Centre, has completed the design stage of the project with input from the BYCA, the Bookham Youth Project (BYP) and the BRA.
2) Back in May 2021 MVDC granted Outline Planning approval to SCC to build the new Centre on a corner of the Lower Rd recreation ground. Sadly, various delays meant that approval expired. However SCC’s Officers tell us that they will be seeking planning permission for the new Youth Centre between autumn and spring 2025. Yet another disappointing delay which we urge SCC to quickly resolve.
3) The new single floor Centre will still be situated on the Lower Rd Recreation Ground. MVDC, which owns the land, has worked with SCC to agree terms of a lease. The BYCA will manage the new Centre, as it did with the old centre, on a sub-lease from SCC at a peppercorn rent. We are hoping that the new centre will be completed by the end of 2025 or early 2026.
But the good news does not stop there… Youth work continues
Youth work in Bookham is undertaken by the Bookham Youth Project (BYP), a branch of the Leatherhead Youth Project (LYP). During the difficult times without a dedicated Youth Centre, young peoples' support needs, and school absences, have increased. However, the LYP has continued to support our young people, wherever possible, with the BYP running smaller sessions at local venues and continuing to work with local schools. The positive impacts on pro-social behaviour and sense of engagement by otherwise “bored” young people have been clear to see.
When the new Youth and Community Centre is built, the demands on the BYP team will increase as young people will have their “own place” where they can seek and be provided with help by qualified youth workers. The positive impact on the wellbeing of our young people will be increased massively. That will place more demand on the BYP's resources.
The BYP is a vital resource - investing in our young people and improving the social cohesion of the community. The BYCA and BRA will continue to support and facilitate the work of the BYP and would encourage anyone who cares about Bookham’s young people to do the same.
And there is yet more good news… new Community Youth worker appointed
Jude Crome, Chief Executive of the LYP has told us:
“LYP are delighted to welcome Lucy Hicks our new Community Youth Worker for Bookham. She will be providing youth services for all young people in Bookham. LYP run a youth cafe two days a week as well as a number of additional projects to help young people feel supported, empowered and safe. We’re looking forward to expanding these services once the new Youth Centre is built. This will allow us to increase our provision and enable us to work with more young people.”
Lucy Hicks, Community Youth Worker for Bookham
Last, but by no means least… BYCA looking to the future
The BYCA (a registered charity) is looking to recruit new volunteer trustees, officers and helpers in the run up to the new Centre opening, so it can plan ahead and be prepared for the future.
David Cox, Chair of Trustees, said:
"We are seeking new Trustees / Volunteers to help prepare for the takeover and future management of the new single storey Centre which will have a youth and community focus. There is a particular need for financial, governance and facilities management experience. Much of the core structure for this is already in place but some needs updating. Our volunteer philosophy is to have enough supporting volunteers for all to participate as much as they wish and without being over stretched - working as a team with the minimum of bureaucracy!
The Youth strategy and work will be undertaken by BYP.
Being part of the BYCA is hugely rewarding as it exists to facilitate helping young people, in the Bookhams and neighbouring communities, through:
a) recreational and leisure time activities provided in the interests of social welfare, designed to improve their conditions of life; and
b) support and activities which develop their skills, capacities and capabilities to enable them to advance in life and participate in society as mature and responsible individuals.”
For further information, please contact: David Cox e.mail: david.cox502@ntlworld.com
May 2024. David Cox, Chairman of Bookham Youth & Community Association and Simon Edge, Chairman BRA report.
A very reasonable question considering it is 12 years since Surrey County Council (SCC) agreed to build a new Bookham Youth Centre; four years since the old Centre closed; and over 1,000 days since planning permission was originally granted on 12th May 2021.
The BYCA, and the BRA have joined forces to try and break through the unacceptable delays in getting the new Centre built.
We have finally received assurances that the project to build the new Centre is ‘on the move’. Both SCC and Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) have confirmed their full support to seeing the new Centre built. This communication is to share that positive news with residents.
The Current State of Play
The BYCA and BRA lobbied SCC’s Leader to organise a “round table” meeting between his senior Councillors and Officers with their counterparts at MVDC. The meeting was held on 23rd February 2024. Attendees included the Leaders of SCC and MVDC, senior Councillors and Officers of each Council, our local County Councillor, and two District Councillors representing Bookham Wards. Local community representatives from the BRA and BYCA attended having consulted with Bookham’s lead Youth Workers who are employed by the Leatherhead Youth Project.
Everyone at the meeting committed to building the new Centre next to the Bookham Colts changing facility at the Lower Road Recreation Ground. Heads of terms were reviewed at the meeting and were agreed.Both the Leaders of SCC and MVDC gave their clear backing to SCC building the new Centre and cleared the way for their Senior Councillors and Officers to get on with the project.
There is still some way to go, but the following actions were agreed to make progress:
Joint Statement by SCC, MVDC, BYCA and BRA dated 10th May:
Delivering the new Centre
Work on the project has resumed.
Computer generated image provided by Surrey CC. This is for indicative purposes only and not the final design
Project management
The various community stakeholders have agreed SCC’s layout plans for the new single-story Centre at Lower Rd Rec. but these are yet to be shared with MVDC as the land owner and local planning authority SCC has said it will apply to MVDC for planning permission not later than November this year. The BYCA and BRA think that is too slow and are asking SCC to accelerate that process. However, if all proceeds smoothly, and planning permission is granted without delay, the building works can then be planned and subsequently delivered.
MVDC’s Leader suggested that a joint project management group should be set up to oversee the project. The BYCA and BRA think that is a good idea and want SCC to do so.
Funding is in place
SCC’s Budget contains funding of up to £2.5m to build the new Centre. SCC’s Leader has unequivocally stated that that funding is not dependant on whatever happens to the former Youth Centre site (opposite the Anchor Pub – there will be more about the former Centre in our next communication).
The Lease
The Heads of Terms for the Lease are confirmed and agreed between SCC and MVDC. The SCC sub lease to BYCA will be based upon the lease held at the old centre.
Planning application
Due to the delays, the previously granted outline planning approval MO/2020/2103 has run out of time. SCC will submit a new planning application which will need to go through the usual MVDC planning process. We have been told that the previously granted outline planning approval remains on the planning history of the site, which will be taken into account. That is helpful, but that earlier decision cannot be taken for granted as renewable.
We will look to our local MVDC Councillors and our SCC Councillor, for their continued active support for the project, and will also call on residents for their support to help the application succeed.
What happens now?
The BYCA and BRA have had to keep pushing to generate progress to build the new Centre. It is disappointing that so much precious volunteer time has been spent doing that – time that would otherwise have been directed towards our young people.
The failure to deliver the new Youth Centre is a failure to deliver for Bookhams’ young people. That failure has been going on for far too long and is simply not acceptable.
The BYCA and BRA will continue to lobby our Councillors and our Councils. We will use all social and other media available to us to keep the building of the new Centre in the public eye. The BYCA and BRA will continue to do whatever it takes, for as long as it takes, to get the new Centre built.
We want to be in a position to be able to celebrate our Councils working together to deliver this much needed facility for the Bookham community. However, we will also hold our Councils to account for progress, until the new Centre is built, by continuing a regular dialogue with SCC which is leading the project and MVDC which is the land owner and planning authority. The BRA and BYCA will publish quarterly updates to keep Bookham residents informed of progress, or the lack of it, as the project proceeds.
