OKEHAMPTON should retain its 'vitally necessary' youth centre Room 13 under proposals discussed by Devon County Council yesterday (Wednesday). Room 13 looks certain to become one of eight youth centre hubs across the county following a new proposal on the future of the county's youth services. The decision on whether to formally accept the proposals was due to be rubber stamped at a meeting yesterday, after the Times went to press. The county council had held a public consultation on plans to withdraw completely from all universal youth provision, including all 32 existing youth centres, and reduce staff numbers from 114 full-time equivalent staff to 33 FTE staff. The proposals were part of an effort to shave almost £1-million off the youth services budget as part of Devon County Council's overall budget cuts of £110-million by 2017. Youngsters from across West Devon made a stand at Room 13 in April, staging an 'Occupy Room 13' protest sleepover at the centre. It seems their voices have been heard, following the announcement of the new proposals. Under the new proposals, Room 13 will become the youth centre hub for West Devon. The new model now proposes the retention of 53 members of staff across the county, working both in a targeted role with the most vulnerable and running open-access sessions. They will operate from eight strategically placed youth hubs with one in each district or city area. The service will also be tasked with helping to further develop local youth work networks and support local community provision. Outreach and mobile services will continue along with the Youth Participation and REACH teams and support will continue for the Duke of Edinburgh programme, Young Farmers, peer education and the Chances educational support service. Cllr James McInnes, cabinet member with responsibility for children and young people's services, and county councillor for Hatherleigh and Chagford, said: 'This council is fully committed to continuing to protect, nurture and support our young people and we fully recognise the value of local youth services to our communities. 'But with public funding getting ever tighter, we have no choice but to look very carefully at everything we do and to make sure we get the most from every penny we spend. 'For the Devon youth service not to wither away over time we have to be creative and bold in order to keep what is most important whilst putting things on a more sustainable basis. 'I would especially like to thank everyone who has taken part in this important debate and praise the many groups and communities that have come forward with positive ideas and suggestions. We have listened very carefully. 'Open-access youth centres are not a statutory function and improving our targeted early intervention work with the most vulnerable young people has to be the top priority. 'But we also recognise the important role that open-access provision has for many communities as part of the broader network of local support for young people and we wish to help support and encourage this. 'I believe our solution offers the best opportunity to both target our limited resources on the most vulnerable whilst harnessing the capacity and expertise of a professional youth service to help build local networks and support the development of local community based provision.' Courtney Lobb from Okehampton is a senior member of Room 13, and has been on work placement at the centre. She said: 'Everyone at the centre is very happy, and it shows that all the hard work with the sleep over and protests paid off. 'However, we have to remember that 24 centres in the county aren't going to be open, and young people across the county will lose easy access to the service. 'It is going to benefit both the young people using the centre now and young people in the future. Young people are still getting important support, and it would have been tragic if that support had been lost in September.' Okehampton town mayor Cllr Paul Vachon said he was 'absolutely delighted' that the centre should be staying open for the foreseeable future. He said: 'The key to this is the county council keeping on the existing youth workers at the centre. 'Room 13 is an extremely important and vitally necessary service in Okehampton. It certainly helps out a lot of young people, and provides them with social cohesion and help regarding a lot of issues.' When Cllr Vachon was deputy mayor in April, he visited Room 13 with former mayor Cllr the Rev Mike Davies to meet with young people who attend the centre, and find out their thoughts on the potential centre closure. He said: 'The young people were well aware of the situation, and rightly very worried about it. 'In no uncertain terms, they explained to us the importance of the centre, why and how it has benefitted them and so many others. 'It has helped a lot of youngsters in the past, and hopefully now will continue to do so. 'If the building had been kept open, but the youth service with professional youth workers had stopped, the young people would have felt this was a very negative approach. 'They wouldn't get the one to one time with a youth worker, who offers counselling and advice as much as anything else. They felt that if the centre was run on a voluntary basis by parents or people from the community, they could not have the same level of consistency or trust they could with a youth worker. 'It is fantastic news for Okehampton.'