The county council must not close the Maxwell Park Community Centre unless it is willing to provide a replacement hall, according to the town council.

Hertfordshire County Council, which owns the youth and community centre, recently told planning consultants that it wished to sell the site, in Maxwell road.

But groups which use the centre have appealed for it to be kept open, and last week they received the support of Elstree and Borehamwood Town Council.

The town council, after a committee meeting last week, appealed to the county council to keep the centre open, or to build a new community hall.

Councillor Eileen Stanley said: "We don't want the community centre to close, but if it has to go then it must be replaced in the same area of Borehamwood."

Mrs Stanley, who is vice chairman of the council's general management committee, said the county council had a moral duty to keep the centre open.

Maxwell Park Community Centre was originally paid for by a local businessman, Ivor Bailey, who wanted it to be used by the youth and by the community.

Although the hall is no longer used for youth events, it is still booked every evening for activities ranging from line dancing to indoor bowls.

The county council said it had yet to reach a decision on the future of the centre, which is currently run by a management committee of volunteers.

However, a survey carried out by its youth workers had shown that young people in Borehamwood were not interested in using the premises.

County Councillor John Metcalf, who represents Borehamwood North, supported the town council's idea that the centre should be replaced if it is sold off.

But he said: "The priority must be to get better youth facilities and, because this is not an ideal place, the important thing is to find some alternative."

He backed a county council proposal to open an internet cafe for teenagers in the centre of Borehamwood, which is being put forward by youth workers.

The county council's plan to dispose of the Maxwell Park Community Centre was mentioned in a report it had commissioned from planning consultants.

The consultants are currently working on a detailed planning brief concerning various options for the re-development of council-owned land in Elstree Way.

October 24, 2001 10:45