Details
The Twickenham Area Action plan proposes that Heatham House and its grounds could be sold for residential or hotel use and the youth centre moved into new premises on the old royal mail sorting office site next door. For more information visit http://www.friendsofheathamhouse.org.uk
Heatham House is a Grade 2 listed building and has been part of the borough's youth provision since 1950, providing a grand, but surprisingly informal setting for young people to socialise, undertake sporting, cultural and creative activities, whilst also learning skills that stay with them into adult life. It would be a tragedy to loose such an iconic youth provision.
Started by: Carl Broadhurst (on behalf of Friends of Heatham House)
This petition ran from 04/07/2011 to 04/10/2011.
Council response
There is no Council plan to remove a youth facility in Twickenham. There has been no Council decision to close Heatham House.
This Council will retain permanently a key youth facility in central Twickenham that has access to a significant green area. Any suggestion otherwise is totally without foundation.
As part of the Twickenham Area Action Plan, Richmond Council is looking at ways to regenerate the whole of Twickenham after 25 years of neglect, including the sorting office, High Street and riverside areas.
Ideas for the regeneration follow on from a series of public events and consultations held last year. All the feedback has been considered and compiled into three scenarios of improvements. These are currently out for consultation with all residents in Twickenham, including young people.
As and when the Post Office site is redeveloped, there will be money to invest in new community facilities. One proposal is that this might, for the first time ever, fund a new, purpose-built youth facility, designed with the young people of the Borough. Should a new Heatham House youth centre be provided in the future, there would be a feasibility study and full consultation with young people. Present users of Heatham House are only one group of youth stakeholders whose voice needs to be heard.
A new Heatham House would be Disability Discrimination Act compliant, as Heatham House is not; it would also enable facilities that cannot be provided in a centuries-old listed building.
To have a modern purpose-built youth centre would be a one-off opportunity that will not recur. This Council believes that option should not be denied to the young people of the future, without the fullest consideration on the basis of facts.
The existing Heatham House would under no circumstances be closed, unless and until the new purpose-built youth centre had been opened on the adjacent site in the Post Office site redevelopment.
Young people aged 11-19 are invited to come and hear more about the Twickenham Area Action Plan at an event on the 20th July at Richmond College from 5pm – 7pm. For more information, go to:
http://www.richmond.gov.uk/young_people_invited_to_have_their_say_about_the_future_of_twickenham
To take part in the consultation and have your say about how to improve Twickenham for everyone, go to: http://www.richmond.gov.uk/twickenham_area_action_plan
Signatures
497 people have signed this petition.
