Conservative run Herts County Council has decided that Royston Young People’s Centre in Garden Walk will be closed permanently. The centre, which is on the King James Academy site, has been closed for several years due to problems with the building, but work had been underway to bring it back into use.

This is part of a massive cut that the Conservatives are making in the council’s services for young people, with nearly a quarter of young people’s sessions expected to be cut. These sessions are already limited to children and young people who need them most so these cuts will impact some of the most vulnerable young people across the County.

Royston will be particularly badly affected with the loss of the only youth services building in the town. Buntingford’s Young People’s Centre is also being closed, so the nearest base will be in Letchworth or Stevenage. The local Services for Young People staff have been doing a great job organising events elsewhere in the town but the permanent loss of the young people’s centre is bad news for the town and the surrounding villages.