Day centre with £500k bill to shut

A DAY centre in a South Wales community which has a repair bill of more than £500,000 is to close and services moved three miles away.

St George’s Day Centre in Tonyrefail has been described as one of the council’s poorest quality buildings with a maintenance backlog of £578,000.

Services will now be provided by the day centre in Gilfach Goch which is three miles away.

An eight-week consultation ran from February to April this year in which 18 people took part, including 16 users of St George’s Day Centre.

More than 94% (17 out of 18) of respondents said they disagreed with the proposals.

Of the 16 users, 12 said they would stop attending George’s closed.

Concerns were raised about the increased cost to service users, that they would either have to cook for themselves or eat elsewhere, and there would be a need to use another venue for bingo.

Labour councillor Alexandra Davies-Jones said the number of people using the day centre and the upkeep of the building have to be taken into account.

She said she was happy to hear there was an engagement activity to show people round the Gilfach Goch centre and that they would still be providing the service in the area.

Plaid Cymru councillor Danny Grehan said: “Figures on a spreadsheet matter more than anything else. The backlog of work means it is unsustainable for the council to keep running. day centres if St

“Everyone knew that the consultation wasn’t going to have an effect but it could make people realise that it is a very important facility.”

He asked if the council could consider using some of the savings made to provide transport for users to get to Gilfach Goch.

The council’s cabinet member for adult community services and the Welsh language, Geraint Hopkins, said: “Gilfach Goch is a vast improvement. We will work as best we can with users to see if there are ways to help them get to the facility.

“Not all communities have a facility like this on their doorstep. There is not one in my ward.

“It is more than simply austerity. We need to look at provision for older people. All sorts of services were designed in a different time and for a different generation.

“It is time to look at how we improve our offer. The people of 2018 are not the same as those in 1958. Times change.”