A project to help the young people of an east Suffolk market town has crossed its first hurdle with consent being granted for a new building for them to meet in.

Saxmundham Town Council has been given planning permission for a portable modular building with toilets next to the Scout HQ on the Memorial Playing Field in Rendham Road for two years.

The council is aiming to set aside funding for potentially two professional part-time youth workers, targeting those youngsters who need help and direction, and hopes to have the £30,000 project up and running next year.

Roger Plant, chairman of the town council finance committee, said the first stage had been to secure permission for the building.

He said: “The next stage will be to deal with the contractors and then the actual work on the building, which could take around eight weeks.

“During that period we can think about recruiting the youth workers and how that part of the project will work.”

Councillors are keen that the youth workers also work in local schools to engage with youngsters and get them to activities at the new building, providing a joined-up service to help the young people and cut nuisance problems in the town.

The situation became more difficult this autumn when Club Sax, an independent group which ran the local weekly youth club, closed.

Organisers found it tough to get funding to continue with money readily available for new ventures but difficult to gain for running costs of established youth work initiatives.