An Angus councillor has spoken out in support of the youngsters in his town in the hope of re-establishing a youth facility in Monifieth.
Councillor Ben Lawrie has pledged to explore all avenues for some sort of facility to stop teenagers “wandering the streets.”
He returned to his former school, Monifieth High, last week to speak to senior pupils and members of the Scottish Youth Parliament.
After his meeting he said: “One of the issues raised with me was the lack of things for young people to do in Monifieth.
“We used to have a great youth centre and I’ll be making the case for re-establishing it.”
The Liberal Democrat councillor for Monifieth and Sidlaw held a surgery at the school to talk to pupils about what is good about living in the area, and what could be better.
“Whilst some pupils from the Sidlaws area spoke highly of the Muirhead and Birkhill Friday Night Project, which gives young people in that area something to do, others from Monifieth told me about the lack of things to do for young people.
“Quite often they just spend their time at McDonalds or down at the Blue Seaway, where it can be cold and dark.
“When I was a pupil at Monifieth High not too long ago, we had a fantastic and well-attended youth club called 4Real next to the Seaview Nursery.
“When this closed there was a new youth club established next to the school which had various activities for young people including videogames, table tennis and state of the art music recording equipment. This is now closed.”
Councillor Lawrie would like to see the re-establishment of a youth club for the town saying: “It gives young people something to do and keeps them safe rather than consigning them to wander the streets.”
He referred to the ambitious plans which would see a new high school built in Monifieth as outlined in Angus Council’s recently published School Investment Strategy which looks at school provision for the next 30 years.
One of the top priorities is the replacement of Monifieth High, funded from the Scottish Government’s Schools for the Future programme (or any successor programme).
Angus Council is to undertake an options appraisal exercise that will include the possibility of an ‘all-through’ school incorporating Grange primary.
It will also identify other options that will improve the situation in Monifieth, taking account of housing developments in the area.
The council wants to include the views of the schools and wider community to generate ideas to be evaluated with a consultation beginning in April.
Councillor Lawrie concluded: “I know that Monifieth is next in line for a new high school and I’ve even heard talks of a leisure hub being built as a part of this.
“Perhaps if this could also incorporate a space for young people to come to on a Friday night, like they used to have, this would be ideal.”
