DEVON County Council has been accused of a lack of awareness of 'urban issues' over its plans for the city's youth clubs.
The cash-strapped county council intends to provide eight youth club hubs around the county, one of them in Exeter.
But Richard Westlake, county councillor for Newtown and Polsloe said: "It is unacceptable to have only one hub in Exeter.
Exeter has a population in excess of 117,000, counting the hinterland that rises to 130,000 while the total population of all the other towns is just going on 148,000.
(The figures refer to the political map of Devon which excludes the unitary authorities of Plymouth and Torbay.)
"This shows a complete lack of awareness of urban issues.
"They are talking about having a hub in Okehampton, which I support, but the population of the town is 5,700.
"One hub is not enough for Exeter – we need one west of the Exe and east of the Exe."
A spokesman for the county council said: "At its meeting on 11 June, members of the county council's cabinet decided to retain a professional youth work service operating from eight area-based youth centre hubs across the county with one hub identified in Exeter.
"The hub is intended not only to be a traditional youth centre but to be the base for all outreach and mobile services across the city and act as the focus for building local networks with staff supporting the development of a range of local community provision.
"The Exeter Board has been invited to advise on the appropriate location for the proposed Exeter hub.
"The council will also consider any alternative proposals from the Board as long as these remain within the total youth service budget identified for the city."
Cllr Westlake added: "Before the Board can make any recommendations we need more information from the county council.
"My understanding is that 10 groups have expressed an interest in taking over and running youth groups in Exeter but we need to know about the ownership of all the buildings, what money would be available from grants and so on."
