John Knight

Green party

I HOPE the whole town rallies behind your ‘Hands Off Hollins View’ campaign.

The stories you told of Mary and Clifford’s respite stays at Hollins View is testament to the excellent care given by the staff there.

This country does not recognise the value to our society by those working in the care sector nearly enough.

Under pressure and underpaid, they continue to give care and dignity to those who can no longer fully look after themselves.

It is time for MP David Rutley to publicly acknowledge the concerns of the thousands of his constituents who have spoken out and signed the petitions against the possible closure of Hollins View by Cheshire East Council.

Experts in the field confirm there are not enough care beds in Macclesfield at present with higher levels of need predicted in the future due to our aging population.

Private care homes are closing locally.

Respite and dementia care is a public need.

Profit cannot and should not be made from it. Hollins View is a well used and appreciated community facility.

I hope the wishes of the local community will, for once, be listened to by the Conservatives running Cheshire East Council. Name and address supplied

MY VIEW ON CARE FUTURE

ALTHOUGH I live in Knutsford, we would be affected by any changes to Hollins View respite care in Macclesfield as it’s the only one we can use.

I was contacted recently as part of the general consultation and, if the debate is still going on in the pages of the Macc Express, I’d like to chip in what I said. I made just four points: 1. I fully understand the need to expand facilities for respite care in view of the demands of an ageing population.

2. I do not understand why CEC thinks it can do this more efficiently by paying private contractors to do this, all of whom have to make a profit. Council-owned facilities, such as Hollins View, have to be run efficiently, but they don’t have to make a profit.

3.Under the terms of the current proposal exactly when would the capacity represented by Hollins View come on stream?

Hollins View has some 30 to 40 bedrooms and substantial teams of nurses, carers and ancillary staff. Were it to be closed, how and when would this capacity be phased in and exactly where will it come from?

4. In view of 2 above, and serious doubts about 3, I am totally against the further privatisation of respite care.

It must be possible for the council to provide the extra capacity itself, along Hollins View lines, cheaper that by paying multifarious, profit -making contractors. I am not against profit-making companies per se – I worked for AstraZeneca for 30 years – but not in the context of respite care and similar services. Geoff Holman via email

COULDN’T COPE WITHOUT HOME

FIRSTLY, may I applaud the Express for throwing its weight behind the campaign to save Hollins View.

The fact that more than 1,500 have signed a petition urging the council to halt its proposed closure speaks volumes for the strength of feeling in the town. I, for one, haven’t heard a single person arguing that the centre should close.

My husband has Alzhe- imer’s disease and I don’t know how I would cope without the respite care provided by Hollins View.

I never get a proper night’s sleep and I’m elderly myself.

The fact that every few weeks my husband can spend a couple of days in Hollins View is a godsend.

Without this I simply couldn’t cope and my husband would have to go into permanent fulltime care.

However, I am disappointed (but not surprised) that our MP David Rutley has not commented on the proposed closure so far.

Unfortunately, I and others I know, are extremely disappointed with Mr Rutley’s behaviour over the past four years.

Too often he has sat on the fence on major issues. He seems happy to have his picture taken with protesters then will also side with the opposing side, usually the council.

The furore over Lyme Green was a classic example of his reluctance to stand up and fight for the people of Macclesfield.

This latest scandal over Hollins View is another example.

Please Mr Rutley, support the fight to keep this care home open, throw your weight behind the campaign and urge the council to stop the planned closure.

Don’t just get your picture taken with campaigners then say you sympathise with the council’s situation.

This is not the time to sit on the fence, this is the time to fight for the people of the town.

Because if you don’t act now, a hugely valuable resource will be lost forever to the town and the lives of many elderly people will be destroyed. Name and address supplied IN recent months, Cheshire East Greens have been joining with other campaigners to oppose the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Saturday, October 11, saw a European day of action, when citizens in 22 countries across the continent joined forces to oppose the corporate takeover of democracy.

In Cheshire East, campaigners have taken to the streets, along with thousands of others across the country, leafleting and talking to members of the public about the deal and the impact its passage could have on our public services and basic rights.

Joan Plimmer – Green Party parliamentary candidate for Macclesfield – has been campaigning in her home village of Disley. She said: “TTIP is a huge threat to hard-foughtstandards for the quality and safety of our food, the sources of our energy and our privacy and risks undoing decades worth of EU progress on issues like workers’ rights.

“Let’s make no mistake, the proposed free trade deal is a huge threat to hard-fought-for standards for the quality and safety of our food, the sources of our energy, workers’ rights and our privacy. What’s more, it would blow apart the power of our democratic decision making. The deal provides corporations with new rights to sue the Government for legislating in the public interest – that’s definitely not acting for the common good”.

Campaigning charities such as the World Development Movement and Friends of the Earth have expressed major concerns at what is being proposed.

Of the other parties, the Tories and Lib Dems, are enthusiastic supporters on behalf of their corporate friends. Labour are claiming they can keep the NHS out of the deal, but those close to the negotiations have said that isn’t possible. Only the Green and Left groups in the European parliament have stood up to the corporate agenda.