CALLINGTON councillors have voted in favour of a proposal to establish a funding provision for youth support in the town in the next few years.

At the last Callington Town Council meeting, members of the public, including young people pleaded with councillors to consider funding to improve youth provision in Callington.

One young person, Izzy Robins said: “There is nothing to do here. This is a dead end town. It needs something for young people.”

Some hope that if more activities and provision were available for the youth of the town to engage with, such as a youth club building, this would help to deter anti-social behaviour in Callington.

Jo Griffin said at the meeting: “I fully support this plan. There is not enough for our children to do in the town that is constructive which I think then leads to drug taking and vandalism, but if they had somewhere to go for them to learn new skills that would be fantastic.”

A parent, Dan McCaffrey added: “We’re very lucky in this town that we have a lot of people who run community activities such as the Lions, the Rotarians, Honey Fair, and I’d love to imagine that 20 or 30 years down the line there will be a generation of young people who will be inspired to take part in events and take up that mantle. But right now that’s not going to happen.

“Once this generation goes, no one is going to step up. They haven’t been inspired by the funding that could be achieved here to take part in activities that could inspire them to get involved in the community when the time comes. Please seriously think about not just the impact this has on this generation but subsequent generations.”

Following the public session, councillors discussed whether to support a funding provision for youth support in the next three to four years and agree a funding plan. This would potentially permit a line to be added in the budget which would make money available for youth provision on an annual basis.

Callington and Cornwall Councillor Andrew Long supported the proposal and said: “I think the plan for a physical youth centre has been going round for a few years, but a reason it didn’t succeed in previous years was because there wasn’t an organisation that was able to move it forward.

“We now have a youth steering group which is able to do that.

“I am working with Paul Carey from Callington Youth Project Group to talk to a relevant land owner about a physical spot to use. However, the capital funding to build is a lot easier to get than the funds to run.

“This proposal is creating a potential to do so.”

Some councillors were opposed to the idea such as Cllr Brookes who voiced: “We haven’t got the spare money.”

After a vote, the motion was carried.