A NEW youth and community centre has been officially opened on the site of a former primary school following a three year campaign.

The Green Street Youth and Community Centre, on the former site of the Green Street School, was opened last Friday by the chairman of Wycombe District Council Cllr Bill Jennings, who cut the ribbon.

He said: "I am very pleased that this facility has been secured as there has been a need for a centre such as this in the area."

The Green Street School, in High Wycombe, closed two years ago due to falling pupil numbers and owners Buckinghamshire County Council planned to sell the land and building to a developer to build houses or flats.

But local businessman Munir Hussain stepped in when he heard of the closure plan in 1998 and formed and led a community action group, called the Green Street Partnership, to look at establishing a community centre on the site.

Munir said if the site had been developed as housing, the opportunity to build a community centre would have been lost forever.

He said: "This is an area which is devoid of any community facility, as well as being classified as a high deprivation area.

"I realised that establishing a community centre would be an uphill struggle and the three years seems to have been like 30 years as we have crammed in so much work and effort to convince people in authority that this was desperately needed."

The Green Street Partnership consists of community members, as well as representatives from Wycombe District Council and the county council.

The youth and community centre already has a full timetable of activities, including English for speakers of other languages which is attended by around 60 women each week, an Asian Youth Project which attracts around 80 young people, and a Citizens Advice Bureau outreach project.