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‘Saved’ centre to close
MENTAL health day centre in Chalk Farm is to close amid claims of a U-turn by Camden’s ruling parties.
Lib Dem and Conservative councillors sitting on the council’s executive have voted to shut Jamestown Centre in Adelaide Road in March. Instead, money is to be ploughed into vocational training and one-to-one care.
The decision comes less than seven months after mental illness sufferers won a High Court case which ended the previous Labour-controlled council’s attempts to shut the centre.
In March, Mr Justice Walker ruled the council had bungled its consultation with service users over the closure plan. In a new consultation in July the overwhelming majority of those who responded opposed closure.
The centre’s users reacted with outrage to last Wednesday’s decision, claiming that Tories’ and Lib Dems’ earlier defence of the centre had helped them win votes in last May’s election.
Service user Ruth Shawcross, 42, said: “We are totally shocked. We thought we won at the court case but found we have been fed false promises. After the High Court they started redecorating the place and brought back our chef but now we are told it was all a waste of time.”
But Councillor Martin Davies, Conservative executive member for adult social care, claimed that, while closure was “not ideal”, it was necessary to keep within the mental health service budget.
He said: “Closing the Jamestown Centre has come out as the best option.
“Investing in recovery and providing quality services across the board has to be our priority.” |
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