COACHES and managers of the Tilbury-based 'The Martial Academy' have delivered a critical broadside about the Thurrock 'Onside' Youth Zone site currently under construction in the town.

The Academy, a local charity, is currently located at Tilbury Football Club, having been forced out of its former longstanding premises in Civic Square when the former town fire station, which had become a much-used community resource, was shut and demolished by Thurrock Council in 2021.

The plan was for the site to be a new integrated medical centre under a health plan brokered by the council which was later scrapped. The site remains bordered off and empty, with a part of it used as a car park.

Moving from Civic Square meant a considerable downsizing for the Academy which offered not just sports training, but lifestyle guidance and support for young people in the town – and also older people.

Residents were upset that local green space has been given up for the controversial project. Aerial pictures by Danny Parmenter.

Dave Aiton has been a guiding light for the Academy for many years and says he is disheartened by what has happened to it and says the impact of the council's failed policies has seen a rise in anti-social behaviour.

He and colleagues criticised the plans for the controversial and divisive Youth Zone plan which the council has rail-roaded through using government money earmarked for Tilbury to provide what is a borough-wide facility.

Money for the Youth Zone build has been provided by the Tilbury Town Fund, despite local opposition to its location on green space on the Anchor Field. It will be giving Youth Zone £1 million a year for three years - money that was specificly given to improve the lives of Tilbury people. Critics of the Youth Zone say it should not be spent on a Thurrock-wide venue under a branded name to represent its sponsors - which include Thameside Freeport and DP World London Gateway.

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And even though construction is now underway, there are serious doubts about its sustainability, and it appears that Thurrock Council will be asked to pump in hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to keep it going in the future – even though the council's pledge was previously that the venue would have to be self-financing and it could not contribute operating cash.

Even the council's lead member for 'good growth' said she has serious concerns about the plan and is concerned about the detail. She spoke at a council meeting, saying was 'a bit frightened' by the vagary surrounding the funding of the scheme and the financial implications including ownership of the land.

At last night's (Tuesday, 31 March) meeting of Tilbury community Forum, Mr Aiton spoke passionately about The Martial Academy and what he believed it meant to Tilbury.

Dave Aiton.

He said: "Since the resource centre went and the medical centre didn't appear, crime's gone up. I believe that part of that is a consequence of what we haven't been able to do, we've not been able to support people, particularly young people, like we used to.

"Since the resource centre was knocked down, we were given a space to utilise at Tilbury Football Club, which is their old clubhouse.

"So, we are still operating, but at very minimal capacity. The team down there are still encouraging people, especially the youth in the area to come and join us. And to start to get involved in something that keeps them of the streets and given them a positive role model and provides them with an outlet outside of what they are doing at the moment.

The former home of The Martial Academy, which the council demolished.

"Over 17 years I and others have been here at least three or four nights a week conducting classes, but since the resource centre has disappeared and no health centres arrived, things like anti-social behaviour and crime have gone up quite a bit.

"We want to counter that, and we are working with the Forum to try and make sure that we can bring back any sphere of influence we have on helping Tilbury people.

"The objective, from our point of view, is that we can bring the academy back. I have already submitted to the forum, a proposal, hopefully to be forwarded on to the Tilbury Town Fund, as an alternative to the Onside proposal for the Anchor Field which provides, at a very minimal cost the same resources on the strategy that the government is providing plus a lot more plus a lot more that's specific to the community.

"Meaning that there will be classes for all ages.

"We have instructors and youth coaches in martial arts and fitness and health and well-being practitioners, including dieticians. Everything that the community needs in regard to health and well-being we can provide.

Work is progressing on the Youth Zone site.

"Up until the fire station was knocked down we were also active around care homes and shared housing offering chair-based exercise classes, getting people back and active regardless of what their age or capability was.

"What we want to do is reestablish that but in our current state with minimal space we have and little resource it is quite difficult to get back to where we were five years ago. And to build up to something bigger and better."

Mr Aiton's colleague, Bill Shelton, added: "I'd just like to say we've been looking at the messages I've put out to the Tilbury community about what you'd like to see a bit more of and anything we can help with.

"People have asked about yoga and Pilates. We want to add them. And we are adding a gymnastics coach."

Fitness training for all ages takes place at The Martial Academy.

Mr Shelton then turned his ire on the Youth Zone project, saying: "I don't think I'm alone in believing that the Youth Zone over there is the biggest waste of time that has ever been invented and it will fail.

"They don't understand the community, and it will fail. We've worked with the kids around here for 17 years now folks and we've got a proven track record of keeping crime down and getting kids back on track."

Another academy stalwart, Lisa Skelton spoke about ongoing work with young people.

She told the meeting: "We are now taking on youth offenders that are coming in to work with us in their chosen area.

"It's not all about I think people are sometimes very tunnel visioned about that but it's all about teaching people discipline and respect. It's sometimes providing them with that.

"If you've got someone in a uniform standing in front of you, or a fancy suit, the first reaction you get is 'you're not my people'. We stand in front of them as the people that we are.

"We've already, as Dave and Bill said, proven with a track record, the changes that we have been able to make to the lives of kids – and adults - that have come to us.

"It's not just about the martial arts it's about mental health and socialisation.

"We want to work with kids because there's nowhere left to go. They need that something and that is in turn helping with crime prevention because instead of saying go down the route of this is the crime, this is the punishment, this is giving them that step to come into us and say 'this is where I'm at'. We don't judge them for that but get them to think 'this is where I need to be to be accepted and not be in trouble with what I'm doing'."

Mr Shelton then concluded: "We're also going to look at different schemes of things you can do, including things like first aid training which we can provide for the community. Tell us what you want and we will try to deliver."