Riverside residents require dignity
That includes my old dad, age 92
If Star Trek’s Captain Kirk was in charge of the USS South Ayrshire, then engineer “Scotty” would already be on the intercom pleading “Cap’n – it’s the fans . . . ah dinnae think they can take another bucket load!”
Yes folks, SAC are about to lurch from one major building crisis to another – and they are not exactly light years apart.
Just a railway bend away from the scaffolded skeleton of Ayr Station Hotel sit the Riverside Place multistorey flats – and they’re about to present South Ayrshire Council with a very familiar problem.
Do they save the buildings – at a potential cost of £ 36 million?
Or do they demolish and rebuild – at the same price or potentially even more?
But the Riverside flats have a human element that transcends the bricks and mortar quandary of the Station Hotel.
They currently accommodate hundreds of people in 222 occupied flats.
Many of the residents are elderly and with varying degrees of disability.
And I have to declare and interest here.
One of them is Bob Shields Snr. who will celebrate his 92 nd birthday next week!
The old boy’s whole world is his daily walk across Turner’s Bridge to a few High Street shops – and back again.
Understandably, he can sometimes be forgetful and confused.
So I dread to think how he’ll cope with giving up the place he’s called home for thirty years – the last twenty of them with a photo of my late mother on his mantelpiece.
There are a whole host of financial implications here – many of which will unravel as the future of the Riverside flats unfolds.
Some residents are already accusing SAC of mismanagement – claiming the Riverside blocks can be added to Belleisle, Rozelle, Ayr Town Hall, Burns House and the County Buildings as properties successive councils have allowed to fail.
Others will wonder why millions have been spent on refurbishment and upgrading work since 2002 – including £ 2.5 million approved only last year – only to learn the multi- story flats need another £ 35 million of “essential or advisable” improvements.
And I imagine just about everyone – myself included – will be gobsmacked by the estimated
figure of at least £ 130,000 of remedial work – PER FLAT!
Further, down the line, questions will be asked how this was allowed to happen in the first place
And – as usual with South Ayrshire Council – letting 234 prime council tenancies reach the point of needing £ 35 million of repairs will be nobody’s fault!
SAC were meeting earlier this week to take stock of the situation – but I hope their priority from day one will be the residents.
Decanting several hundred people – temporarily or permanently – is a huge undertaking.
But doing it with compassion and sensitivity – not to mention logistically – is an even bigger one.
To be fair to the current Council, the housing services department has been as transparent as possible with all the residents.
Their recent newsletter distributed around the tenants was informative and offered useful contact details.
And I commend their decision to dedicate two housing officers to work with residents in the future.
I also note the leadership panel document that was discussed this week includes the usual
reference that all decisions should “increase the profile and reputation” of the council.
I can’t think of a better way to improve that reputation than treating everyone at Riverside
Place with honesty, dignity and understanding.
Decanting several hundred - temporarily or permanently - is a huge undertaking