RESIDENTS of Otley will be pleased to hear about two major projects about to get under way.

Together costing around £300,000, the projects will vastly improve facilities for young people and community groups right across the town.

A cyber caf for young people will be just one of the new additions to the Cross Green Community Centre.

Young people are not overly spoilt with things to do in Otley and this will surely be a boost - certainly as they have spent many hours fundraising for the equipment.

The newly refurbished centre will provide a base for many of the town's community groups and will also be somewhere to run advice sessions.

And just up the road, plans are under way to bring the Methodist Church into the 21st Century. A major part of the church's wishes for the building is to make it more young person friendly.

Although the church does not want to alienate its older members, it is keen to attract younger people because they are its future.

One of the things it hopes to do is to remove a couple of rows of pews in the church and replace them with moveable chairs - to give more room for young peoples' concerts.

It's good to see such projects getting off the ground in Otley. No doubt the trustees of a £200,000 fund in Bramhope would like someone to come forward with a similar good idea.