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Tesco's plan is cause for concern at youth centre
The future of a Belper youth club has been thrown into doubt after its building appeared to have been flattened in a masterplan drawn up by supermarket giant Tesco, to make way for new shopping units.
The supermarket giant, which owns land near Derwent Street, unveiled its vision for the area, including a new superstore, in July.
Shop units were included on the plans where the Drop Inn youth centre now stands, even though the building is on privately-owned land.
After challenging Tesco representatives, Drop Inn founder Andrea Fox found they knew nothing about the nationally-acclaimed centre and it had not been included in its vision for Belper.
The skate park behind Morrisons was also not marked on the Tesco plan, leading to fears it might also be lost if the masterplan does go ahead.
Ms Fox said: "There is so little for young people in Belper. If they take us away and take the skate park away there is nothing for them to do.
"We moved down here because it was non-residential, there was no-one to get hassled by the noise, and it was easy for us to police it. It's perfect.
"We couldn't share a space with someone else because of what we do. If it was down to share a building or close we would have to close. This place only works because the kids can do their own thing. It wouldn't work any other way."
The unnamed owner of the land the Drop Inn stands on has told Ms Fox he does not plan on selling the land to Tesco, but she is still concerned Tesco might make an offer that could not be refused and the venue would be lost.
Tesco's masterplan promised numerous benefits for the local community including new shops, a new library and a new community centre.
The chain has not yet submitted a planning application.
The Drop Inn, which provides social activities and training and volunteering opportunities for young people, has been running for around nine years. It was first set up in King Street, before moving to Derwent Street in 2003.
Since then it has earned recognition from several youth boards and has become a flagship for similar projects.
The centre has recently been recognised for its inter-generational work with older people.
Libby Rogers, 16, who is the head of the youth committee at the centre, said: "You get so many opportunities here that you just wouldn't get anywhere else.
"I've done volunteering and work that counts towards my college course. It's somewhere all young people can come, it keeps them off the streets and its where people socialise. There's nowhere else like this."
A spokesman for Tesco said the site was planned out in terms of a "likely" use for the area.
He added: "The plans had parts where we had masterplanned the area because it had to be looked at as part of a larger site.
"The architect put on some likely uses for other parts of the town which will not be part of the planning application but merely indicative."
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Weather for Belper
Friday 25 May 2012
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Temperature: 11 C to 24 C
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Wind direction: East
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