Youngsters celebrate as sports hall plans passed (From Bucks Free Press)

Youngsters in Chalfont St Giles celebrate as sports hall plans passed

11:11am Monday 6th February 2012 in The Chalfonts By Andy Carswell

ECSTATIC youngsters are celebrating after their youth club was given a new lease of life.

Permission for an extension to Chalfont St Giles Youth Club, which will house a new sports hall, was granted by Chiltern District Council.

Children who attend the Narcot Lane club raised the £670 application fee themselves, and their hard work paid off when the planning committee unanimously agreed to the proposals.

Sui Jefferson, a volunteer leader at the club for the last 14 years, said: "I left the planning meeting and went back and told them, and they were absolutely ecstatic. They nearly took the roof off the club."

Mrs Jefferson, who addressed the planning committee at the meeting, said she wants to get whole village involved in the project to build the extension.

She said: "I want to make it a community project. The original hall was built by the community for the young people. I want to give it back and get everybody involved.

"In ten years' time when they're walking past the club with their children they can say, 'I helped build that'. It's a community achievement for them now and 60 years later."

Once up and running the sports hall will be available to everybody, not just members of the youth club.

Mrs Jefferson said: "Before I put the planning application in I wanted to make sure it was right for the kids, our neighbours and residents, and it was a viable thing for the whole community.

"I wanted to make sport viable and affordable to young people. The revit group, parish council and people I spoke to all said it was a much-needed venue. Everywhere is fully booked. I downloaded the Memorial Hall timetable and it's virtually fully booked up to next year."

The club is now looking for grants to fund the project, and building work could start as soon as June if all goes according to plan.

The project had the unanimous support of Chiltern District Council, with Cllr David Spate saying: “The Youth Club provides an invaluable service and is very strongly supported by the local community.”

Cllr Nik Stewert said: “This is absolutely what we want to see, young people engaging with the community. We want to give them opportunities and the management and the young people themselves should be commended 100 per cent.”