Agencies who fail to deliver on their promises to sort out Buckfastleigh's ongoing youth problem should be named and shamed. That was the unequivocal message delivered to the town council by Devon youth worker Mike Stevens on Wednesday, writes Nigel Canham. He outlined an ambitious £270,000 plan to extend the Bungalow Youth Project and said the current building was dilapidated and not up to the job. If approved by planners at Dartmoor National Park Authority, the scheme will result in a bigger, more contemporary centre which will offer 'far more than just table tennis and pool'. 'It will look high-tech from the outside and be high-tech on the inside,' he said. It would offer a comprehensive package of youth advice services and, thanks to new staff and a rejuvenated partnership between the Bungalow Trust and the county council, should be more attractive to teenagers. It could, Mr Steven said, be the focus of efforts to resolve a problem which has blighted the town for too long, but only if all the agencies involved stopped using jargon and followed through on their promises. 'I was taken aback at just how intimidated some people have felt,' he said, referring to a meeting with residents last week. 'We all pay taxes and there is a service that people should be providing. Residents have got a clear right to hold people to account. 'I can take the lead, but I'm holding the other agencies involved to account.' He said he was 'deeply concerned' that some residents had been frightened to speak out on issues such as open drug dealing in the town and its effect on children who were themselves becoming drug takers. He was also left feeling that a series of attacks on one household had been racially motivated. His comments were warmly welcomed by councillors, who gave their backing to the expansion plans. Mayor, Cllr Donald Joint, praised the police for delivering on a promise to find more cash to target the predictably troublesome Friday and Saturday nights. He said that last Friday four patrol cars and eight officers had attended when trouble flared, but Mr Stevens warned against short term solutions. 'It's no good just hitting the town for a month or so until things go quiet,' he said.
