Community hub set to close

A community ‘hub’ for adults with learning disabilities could replace an existing centre that is set to close, a councillor has said.

Cllr Tudor Thomas, who is the cabinet member for social care in Monmouthshire, made the comment at a special meeting to look at his decision to permanently close the Tudor Day Centre in Abergavenny which has yet to re-open since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic. 

The Labour councillor said the decision not to re-open the centre, and use the site for affordable housing instead, hadn’t been taken lightly and was in line with a move to a community-based service in 2014, since when there had been a decline in numbers using the centre. 

The council’s My Day, My Life service for adults with learning disabilities is currently being independently reviewed, with a report due to be delivered to the council in early March. 

Cllr Thomas said that could support retaining day centre provision but suggested other venues such as the library, the theatre and the community centre could perform that role. 

He said: “We have not ruled out a hub based elsewhere.” 

He said the council will be guided by the review: “My advice will be to wait for that review, see what it actually says and what people who actually use the service want and how we develop it for them moving forward.” 

Sarah Griffiths, 38, of Abergavenny who was a regular user of the centre before its closure, was one of eight members of the public to speak at the meeting with a large number of supporters also in attendance. 

Ms Griffiths said: “My mam brought me up to fight for what I believe in and this is the fight for the centre to stay open. It does get lonely for me and I don’t see my friends like I used to. 

“I did go to the day centre for quite a few years and really miss being under one roof and seeing all my friends.” 

Opposition councillors had called the meeting, at which it was decided to refer the decision to the full council. 

The committee had the power to force Cllr Thomas to reconsider the closure, but instead agreed it should be examined by the full council when it meets on January 19. The full council will have to decide to either accept the decision or tell the Labour cabinet member he must think again and take account of comments from councillors. 

Cllr Sue Riley, the chair of the scrutiny committee, said its members had heard the day centre and the service it provides was about more than a building and they also wanted more engagement from the council with those using the services and greater clarity on possible future provision. 

The decision to approve the permanent closure of the centre, which has been unused since it closed in March 2020, was made in November by Cllr Thomas under the procedure for cabinet members making decisions on their own rather than by the full cabinet. 

The council’s intention is to sell the site to a housing association to be redeveloped for affordable housing, and it wants to do so before a change in planning rules, this June, which could prevent redevelopment as the area is considered at risk of potential future flooding. 

Following the two and a half-hour meeting Karen Webb, of Abergavenny, who told the committee how her 23-year-old son Alex Davies has had to be changed in supermarket toilets as since the centre’s closure carers have no base in the town, said she welcomed the decision. 

Ms Webb, who was in tears at the end of the meeting, said: “It’s just really overwhelming but I think the meeting today has opened a lot of eyes.” 

Sara Chicken, whose 27-year-old daughter Emily requires 24/7 care and has previously used the centre, said she was disappointed in the response of the cabinet memebrs at the meeting. 

She said: “We are talking here about very vulnerable people in our society, my daughter is not able to do anything for herself and to talk about other buildings in Abergavenny when they aren’t accessible. 

“The facility is already there.”