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Cllr Martin Davies |
THE WINTER SALE – YOUR CARE HOME
CNJ uncovers plot to sell off
old-folks homes for £26m
TOP secret plans to sell off Camden’s old peoples homes have been uncovered by the New Journal.
Confidential papers leaked to this newspaper reveal how the Town Hall have ambitious plans to build two brand new homes for the elderly – but can only do so by selling off existing sites to developers.
Council chiefs believe they can rake in around £26 million from a land sale which would see care homes in Ingestre Road, Kentish Town, and Branch Hill, Hampstead, put on the market. St Margaret’s in West Heath Road, Hampstead, could also be sold off.
Under Camden’s plans, the focus will then switch to opening two new homes, both in the Gospel Oak area.
Wellesley House in Wellesley Road will close and faces a full-scale redevelopment, while a second block of apartments will be built in Maitland Park Road.
The site of the Charlie Ratchford centre in Chalk Farm may also be sold, although a new centre is likely to open nearby.
Scores of elderly residents face transfers and will be warned that although they will have the chance to have their say on the changes, they will not hold a veto on the overall project.
Camden’s social services chief Councillor Martin Davies said last night (Wednesday) that the council needed to address long-term arrangements for elderly residents whose homes have been described as “outdated” and that it wanted to provide better care for dementia sufferers.
He said the changes would be handled sensitively but he could not rule out the prospect of private companies being called into finance construction and the possibility of an outside operator being invited to run the new homes.
Cllr Davies said: “We want to find out what elderly residents want.
“Whether they want more privacy, whether they want more room to have guests or store their belongings.”
While the need to improve the condition of Camden’s old people’s homes has been an issue that the Town Hall knew would have to be addressed at some stage, the project has so far been wrapped in secrecy. Only a select few senior officials and councillors had seen the full proposals before this week.
In a bizarre day for the council’s communications team, press officials made several calls to the New Journal asking reporters to drop the story, presumably under orders from the Town Hall’s top brass.
Highest ranked council officers are thought to have been involved.
Camden says it was saving details for public release later this month when it begins a consultation programme on February 12.
Staff and residents of the affected homes will now be told at the first possible opportunity.
Cllr Davies said: “Moving house is one of the three most stressful things any of us do in our lives and we know it is even more stressful for older people and we will be doing this sensitively.
“Nobody will be moved for three years. We are genuine about asking residents what they want to see happen. This is a different consultation where people will get the chance to say what they think. They will not hold a veto. We can’t give them a veto on the project but can guarantee that their views will feed into the decision made by the executive.”
Cllr Davies, who colleagues regard as the best man for the job given his day job working for charity Age Concern, added: “I think Labour stalled on this issue. It is one that has to be addressed.”
But the plans have already raised suspicion and privately some members are recalling the fraught battle to save Wellesley House from closure six years ago. It is an emotive issue and opposition councillors have warned the Town Hall that it must tread carefully. Labour deputy leader Councillor Theo Blackwell said he was concerned that Camden’s current research had not gone far enough.
He added: “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a difference and the council hasn’t even put the plans through the normal scrutiny process.
One of the big worries that people have always had in Camden, like with council housing, is that they want to stay with the council. They want services to be run by the council. At the moment there is no guarantee that this will be the case. We need cast-iron guarantees on an issue like this.”
Cllr Blackwell said that the issue had been on the agenda when his party was in power and that he was surprised the new Lib Dem/Conservative coalition had not made public their plans sooner.
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