WORK is to begin in August on a world-class £5m centre for young people in a town, which includes several eco features.

The Hub, in Barnard Castle, will offer activities based around education and training, including a vehicle maintenance workshop, a training spa facility, a recording studio, cinema, cafe and performance space for dance and drama.

Run by the Teesdale Community Resource (TCR) charity, it is primarily for the use of young people in the town and surrounding district, and is the culmination of 23 years’ work.

The site is being designed to the highest environmentally friendly standards, and will have a helix wind turbine and a woodchip boiler, which will provide 30 per cent of the heating during the winter, with the fuel sourced locally.

Top-up heating will come from heat pumps that will take energy from a lake.

Natural ventilation through wind catchers on the roof will keep the building cool and fresh, and rainwater will be collected and reused. A wildflower turf roof will provide a habitat for wildlife.

Architect Pam Donaldson, of Browne Smith Baker Architects, in Darlington, which devised the scheme, said: “Sustainable energy is a very important part of The Hub.

“Taking advantage of the latest techniques in renewable energy sources, we hope to achieve a high level of power in the cleanest, safest and greenest way possible.

“The renewable energy systems will ensure that the building’s sustainability is maximised, resulting in lower, long-term carbon emission and energy requirements.”

It is also hoped the centre, at Shaw Bank, will be an attraction for tourists, with facilities including a mountain bike track and man-made lake for canoeing and kayaking.

Bunk rooms will provide overnight accommodation.

It was a race against time to secure planning permission and funding for the scheme, one of the last projects to be approved by the now defunct Teesdale District Council.

Planning consultant Steve Barker, of Prism Planning, in Darlington, said: “The scheme was eligible for 100 per cent funding from the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ My Place scheme. In order to secure the grant, we had to be on site, but to do that required planning permission.

“Durham County Council was about to become the planning authority and, since they own the land, it would have added enormously to the timescale if they had been asked to approve the scheme.

“This put the funding at risk, so it was paramount that the application was approved by Teesdale.

“Everybody involved in the project pulled out all the stops to make sure the grant was not lost, and the application was made in time, including Teesdale District Council which approved it within seven weeks, instead of the usual 13.”