Plans to axe day care centres given the go-ahead
Nov 5 2009 by Brian Daniel, The Journal
CONTROVERSIAL plans to axe seven cherished day centres in Northumberland were rubber-stamped last night.
Northumberland County Council voted to close the facilities used as meeting places by elderly and disabled people at Amble, Blyth, Bedlington, Haltwhistle, Hexham, Ponteland and Prudhoe.
In a named poll at its meeting at Morpeth’s County Hall, the council voted 46 to 11 in favour of proposals to close its centres, which are used by around 300 people every week.
The authority says the facilities are under-used and it is closing them to cut costs and is instead to offer users and the many others who need assistance personalised budgets to spend on their preferred method of care.
It says anyone who wants to continue receiving traditional, building-based day care will be able to do so via other providers – voluntary and independent agencies.
The council has came up with a range of alternative provision in each of the affected areas. Hundreds of people had signed petitions calling for the seven centres to be saved, claiming they offer elderly users a vital chance to meet friends and give relatives an important break from looking after them.
The meeting was attended by a band of centre users, carers and union leaders who vented their anger at councillors after the vote was taken. Thomas Mosey, 80, of Newcastle Road, Newsham, Blyth, has used the town’s Lyndon House site for around five years, having previously been moved out of its Tynedale House by the council.
