Madam,

The Ceredigion County Council development control committee sat on 14 November and gave planning permission to Wales and West Housing Association to build a 56-bed Extra Care Housing facility on the old Plas Morolwg site.

When several requests to keep Bodlondeb open until alternative provision was in place fell on deaf ears, it is hard to sympathise with councillors who claim that they would have voted against Plas Morolwg hosting Extra Care housing if there was any alternative.

The fact that there is no alternative is a situation entirely of the county council’s making. It seems that the councillors were aware of many of the shortcomings of the windswept and isolated Plas Morolwg site, but are happy to settle for second best for the people of Ceredigion

A number of councillors were callous enough to dismiss the considerable drawbacks of the site by remarking that the residents would at least have a lovely ‘sea view.’

The vulnerable people of Ceredigion deserve better than flippancy when a major part of the county’s elderly care planning is under discussion. If the comments were in fact sincere, then it brings into question the level at which some of our elected representatives are able to process decisions of such importance to the wellbeing of the people of Ceredigion.

So we are left with the prospect of an Extra Care Housing facility situated in a place where the residents are far from shops and other amenities, where gradients for footpaths exceed the maximum set by the British Standards and where residents are likely to be marooned in poor weather.

Yours etc,

George Holloway, Aberystwyth.

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