Youth council may be set up for teenagers

It was one of the suggestions put forward at an Eastburn Neighbourhood Forum meeting when a group of ten youths turned up to make their views known.

The youths turned up 15 minutes into the meeting when youth issues had started to be discussed by residents.

Each young person had something to say and they were quick to remark about how they might get it.

One young person from the group said: "We have nowhere to go. We need somewhere that's sheltered and we need more bins provided so we can put our rubbish in."

Another added: "There is a place down by Airedale where you can play squash but we can't get in. It's locked up."

Residents, members of Steeton with Eastburn Parish Council and Bradford Council and a new police community support officer listened to their demands, but some could not remain silent about their frustrations.

One angry resident said: "What the kids today want is not a place to go and play badminton but a place to go and chill out and smoke drugs. This is what they want."

Another resident added: "I don't think there are many bad kids in the community, but more and more there seem to be bad parents and parents not even having the decency to apologise."

Before the youths arrived one man said: "While we are talking about glass in the park, I want to talk about glass in my living room, down to these kids that are hanging around Eastburn School."

Some residents could relate to what the youths wanted and others said that it might be a good idea to get a bus to take kids down to South Craven School to play different sports.

Joanne Stokes, in charge of a youth group at Steeton, said in response: "There are a lot of good kids in this village. The majority of kids are fed up of hanging around. I used to hang around in gangs where I grew up and we weren't doing any harm.

"But I do know the feeling when you see a group of young people, you can feel intimidated."

Some of the youths said they couldn't even go in the park as signs told them to keep out.

Parish council clerk Cheryl Brown said they could go in the park, just not on the equipment.

Jeff Bennett, the Keighley area co-ordinator for Bradford Council, who chaired the meeting, came up with a number of ideas, including one of setting up a Steeton with Eastburn youth council.

He said: "It is a popular misconception that kids just want to hang around and take drugs.

"If we could get a youth team to come and talk to you, would you be interested to discuss the shelter that you want, or a youth council?"

PCSO Andrew Blood, who also now covers the area, said: "What about circular bus shelters where youths can congregate?

"This could be a good idea, but the youths need to clean up after themselves. If the kids want respect they have to give it back to the public in return."

He added that he used a soft approach with the young people but made sure he got the message across to them.

He said he would certainly tackle many of the issues raised that evening.