Damilola centre opens amid fears that other facilities in Peckham are closing

A youth centre dedicated to the memory of the murdered 10-year-old Damilola Taylor opened amid controversy in south London yesterday, with some residents saying other community amenities in the area were being forced to close.

Richard Taylor, the victim's father, said the Damilola Taylor Centre would enable other children from Peckham to "be the best they can be". But residents said the centre would not cater for under-11s, and the closure of other amenities would place children at added risk. The nearby North Peckham Community Centre is to shut this year.

Esther, who has boys aged four and 14, said the risks to children in the area had not decreased since Damilola was murdered on his way home from the library in November 2000. "We still need more cameras, more security and local community police officers on the street," she said. "It's still dangerous and you still get the drugs, guns and knives."

The demolition of high-rise housing blocks, one of which Damilola had lived in, led to the closure or destruction of community facilities that were built on those estates, she said.

Sabina Emmanuel, who has a 17-year-old son, said the closure of local tenants' association halls meant "people have difficulty finding places to meet". She said play areas for very young children had been taken over by groups of youths who had nowhere else to meet.

But Mr Taylor said he hoped the area's problems would be alleviated by the centre, which has his son's name in silver letters over the door and a photograph of the England footballer Rio Ferdinand, who is from Peckham, in the reception area.

The amenity, formerly the Warwick Park Youth Centre, has been reopened after a £500,000 refurbishment, 50 per cent of it provided by Lord Harris of Peckham. In a new, multipurpose sports hall where Damilola used to play football, Mr Taylor wiped away tears as he spoke to 200 youngsters. "The reopening of this building as the Damilola Taylor Centre is a living, working memorial to the little boy who died in such dreadful circumstances and was never allowed to reach his potential," he said.

Bob Skelly, education executive member for Southwark, said much work was being done to make children safer, particularly by harmonising relationships between police and young people.

Tracy Brown, the manager of the centre, said it would have a wide range of sports and arts activities and a café to be run by children as a business, allowing them to gain office skills. "Once they start to take responsibility for themselves and for the centre, then hopefully they will start to think about the wider consequences of their actions," she said.