The Station in Ottery, already home to regular youth sessions on weekday evenings, looks set to be turned into a hub for wider community use.

Ottery Town Council is planning to make the Station into a more multi-purpose building that can be used during the day for events and activities, as well as offering additional new facilities for young people.

A £25,000 grant has been secured from East Devon District Council for a feasibility study to explore possibilities for developing the building or adding new facilities, including those which could support income-generating schemes.

Separately, Ottery Town Council is making £25,000 available for match funding opportunities to develop youth and mental health support activities at The Station.

Over the last few years town councillors have been working to bring a youth service back to Ottery. In 2021 the council took back control of The Station building and then contracted the organisation Space to deliver the service. Space began holding weekly sessions for seniors (age nine to 19) at The Station during the summer holidays and added junior sessions for the Year 7 and 8 age group later in the year. There is a dedicated youth worker supported by a team of volunteers.

Now, with the youth service well established, the council is looking to develop The Station’s wider potential.

Cllr Stewart Lucas from the Station Community Hub Committee said: “Our long-term plan is to look at ways to increase the facilities that are available at the Station, improve access, with the potential for possibly adding to it.

“Possibly building an extension or modifying what’s existing in to a larger structure, where we can think about purpose-built areas for certain activities - a multi-use sports area or climbing wall, a boxing club, anything of that nature, these are all things that are on the table.

“We’re looking at ways we can use the space available on the entire site, and we also want to look at how we can make the building more sustainable, fitting in with our targets and aims for climate change and the environmental side of things – whether it would be sensible to go down the solar route, rainwater recycling, insulation.

“These are long-term plans to systematically overhaul, improve and offer more services from that site.“