PLANS for two key youth projects have taken a big step forward – and that’s good news for young people in Tadley and Bramley.

Land needed to build a new youth community facility in Tadley has been bought by the borough council.

Hampshire County Council has agreed to transfer land at the former Burnham Copse Infant School site to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council for just £1 to enable a new youth facility to be built next to Tadley Community Centre, in New-church Road.

Once built, Tadley Community Association will pay the borough council a discounted rent.

The £790,000 scheme is set to be funded through £50,000 from Tadley Town Council, £250,000 from the Turbary Allotment Charity and £250,000 from the Public Loans Board after residents in the town voted in favour of the town council borrowing the money.

In addition, Tadley Community Association has also applied to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council for £201,000 from the Local Infrastructure Fund, a pot of money to help deliver facility and infrastructure improvements to areas which have seen housing growth.

Councillor John Izett, cabinet member for property, finance and commissioning, told a meeting of the borough council’s Cabinet: “It seems to me to be a worthwhile initiative, and I commend Tadley Community Assoc-iation for its work in driving this forward and also to the residents of Tadley for supporting it.”

Borough council leader Cllr Clive Sanders added: “It is really good to see a community like Tadley taking the lead and driving their own facilities forward. I think they deserve tremendous commendation for being able to do this.”

Meanwhile, plans to build a £350,000 youth facility in Bramley have been given the go-ahead.

Bramley Parish Council submitted a full planning application to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in December 2013, seeking permission to build the pavilion at Clift Meadow.

The new building, in Minchens Lane, will include a cafe, kitchen and office, and the project will also see the existing car park resurfaced as part of the development.

An application for planning permission was submitted after Bramley Parish Council secured permission from the Clift Meadow Trust, which owns the site, to develop the land, and once building work on the new youth facility is completed, the Clift Meadow Trust will manage the site.

The new building will be funded from developers’ contributions that have been put aside specifically for young people in the village, and once built, it will also be used by the parish clerk of Bramley Parish Council and local police officers.

Bramley parish councillor Janet Grieve, who is also on the parish council’s youth facilities project working group and has worked closely on the application, told The Gazette: “We are very, very pleased and we think most of the community is with us, because the youth haven’t got a lot of places to go, and it is important that they have a space.”