By Erin Bishop  November 11 2009

Ashburton’s youth might be happy their own café is on the way, but some of their new neighbours aren’t.

The Ashburton Youth Café Charitable Trust secured the old Zeebo’s building in Tancred Street and hoped the alcohol free café for young people would be in operation by February.

 But they have now called a meeting next week after hearing some other Tancred Street businesses weren’t happy about it.

 One of those businesses was Millies Restaurant and Bar, over the road from the new café, which is being aimed at those aged 10 to 19.

 Millies owner Paul Millichamp said the site was the worst possible place for a youth café and he was “dead against it”.

 He said no one from the youth café had spoken to him about it going there.

 “They’re going to be open Friday and Saturday nights until midnight and that’s the time our main crowd is turning up,” Mr Millichamp said.

 He said from his observations without the youth café there, Tancred Street was already often home to many “underage kids drinking”, and when the new premises opened it would create even more problems.

 “There’s young ones who will come to town and stash their drinks somewhere down the road and then go into the new café,” he said.

 Youth café promoter Lynne Bridge said she had not been able to speak to Mr Millichamp, but had spoken to his staff who had raised concerns about youth café patrons trying to get into Millies.

 “But they will have a stamp on their hand and that will mean they have been at the youth café,” she said.

 Ms Bridge said she’d had another Tancred Street business owner say that they didn’t want young people hanging around outside their shops.

 “But I don’t know anyone in Ashburton who asks their neighbours before they open a business,” she said.

 Monday night’s meeting, to which all nearby business owners were being invited, would be a place for those with concerns to have their voices heard and to allay any fears people had about it, she said.

 The meeting will take place at 5.30pm on Monday at the WINZ Community Link rooms.