Sandys residents were told last night that if they wanted to help their youth they must band together and stand fast.

The warning came during a discussion of proposals for use of the former Canadian base lands at Daniel's Head organised by the Sandys Action Group (SAG).

The organisation's acting chairman, Kordell Brangman, said the meeting was for Sandys residents to see what could be done with the site and get feedback.

Approximately 200 people attended the meeting and were shown slides and photographs of the entire 26-acre area featuring about a dozen abandoned buildings and unused open land, beaches and docks.

The SAG's proposal, said member Rudolph Hollis, was to turn the entire area into a self-supporting cultural village complete with a restaurant, offices, a retail outlet, a camp ground, water sport facilities and more.

But most importantly, said Mr. Brangman, was the construction of a community and recreational centre for the use of young people.

A Sandys youth group was in place under Gerald Fubler but he did not have a facility for the more than 200 children he cared for.

Mr. Brangman slammed Government for promises made in its Blue Paper before the last general election that it would help youth and recreation groups by providing facilities for them.

What had it done, he asked, but construct playgrounds which were of no use to children over a certain age.

An audience member asked that if Government believed children needed facilities so they would stay out of trouble, then why were they not been given those facilities? A member of the audience said Government was doing a disservice by preventing them from using the site which was on their doorstep.

He asked them not to help its development plans by selling pieces of their land because "giving them a little will give them a whole lot more''.