Madam,

I thought I would let you know how strongly I feel that Bodlondeb should be kept open for the care of the elderly frail of Aberystwyth - the generation who helped make our town a thriving and successful community.

Some of my reasons for this view are:

1 Private services are not of a sufficiently high standard to replace council care. I have formed this view from the experience of family and friends

2. Care at home does not address the problem of loneliness in the elderly, identified as a serious concern under the Health and Wellbeing Act, offering at best a few hours a day, often in very short blocks of time.

3. Not only is care at home piecemeal, it does not provide care that is of a consistent standard, nor is it present in a crisis to avert a possible fatality.

4. Bodlondeb is a publicly-owned asset. It is immoral for the county council to consider selling it, and the land it occupies, against the will of the community who own it and have so clearly demonstrated that they want it to be kept open.

5. We are told that Bodlondeb is not fit for purpose. If there is any truth in this statement, the responsibilty for that lies directly with the county council which has a duty to maintain a publicly-owned asset.

6. The people of Ceredigion have been given inaccurate information to justify the closure of Bodlondeb. The Care Commission only requires newly-built homes to conform to the new recommendations for room sizes. This regulation does not apply to Bodlondeb or any existing care home.

7. Residents have been moved out of Bodlondeb against their wishes, and against those of their families, with the Social Services spokesperson claiming that the reason for the move was a change in the needs of those people. If their needs can be met in Tregerddan, they could just as easily have been met in Bodlondeb.

8. The so-called consultation began under the title ‘a consultation on the closure of Bodlondeb’ giving a clear indication of the expected outcome, so it could not be described as fair or impartial.

9. The Scrutiny Committee meeting was not structured to give fair hearings from both sides of the argument. The committee heard four five-minute presentations on why Bodlondeb should be kept open. Each of the presenters had to speak hurriedly to convey their points in their allotted time. Then followed a lengthy presentation from Ms Darnbrook of Social Services on how Bodlondeb was not fit for purpose. She was not asked to make her case in five minutes - if I remember rightly she was allowed to speak for nearly an hour.

10. Members of my family were cared for at Bodlondeb until their deaths. I could not have wished for better care for them, nor better personal support at this difficult time. A decade later, that wonderful ethos continues. I believe that the wilful destruction of it is sacrilege.

Yours etc,

Geraldine Taylor, Buarth, Aberystwyth.

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