1:40pm Friday 12th March 2010
Concerns that a community of elderly people will be broken up after their sheltered housing complex was earmarked for demolition have been expressed by a councillor.
Yorkshire Housing, which looks after 20 studio flats at Yeadon House, on Croft Hill, Sutton, has offered residents the chance to move into affordable units at the new Greenroyd Mill development, just off Main Street.
It is expected most residents will take up the offer, as the accommodation at Yeadon House is set to be demolished.
But Sutton Parish Council chairman Coun Neil Whitaker said: “My main concern is that they’re breaking up the old people’s community. My 83-year-old mother lives up there and she often goes to coffee mornings at the community centre to meet up with other residents.
“This has come as a shock to them. They’ve not been given a fair crack of the whip.”
Coun Whitaker said moving house would be a big change for the residents, most of whom were in their 80s or 90s. “You don’t uproot people of that age,” he said. “It’s fairly stressful moving when you’re young and agile, let alone at that age.”
Michael Hewson, area manager for Yorkshire Housing, said: “Yeadon House has provided excellent accommodation for a number of years. However, we now need to assess this provision and its facilities and ensure that we are meeting all of our tenants’ needs.
“Unfortunately the site that Yeadon House currently stands on is not suitable for extension and would have required significant investment that would not have better served our tenants in the long-term.”
At Sutton Parish Council last week, Mr Hewson said: “Greenroyd Mill, scheduled for completion in April 2011, will not only offer a better standard of living, but will be more spacious and allow for more comfortable living.
“It will also provide improved communal and social areas and be able to accommodate modern appliances and facilities.
“We are engaging in extensive consultation with the existing tenants at Yeadon House to ensure their needs are met and to minimise any disruption and we are receiving some very positive feedback.
“Any tenants not wishing to move to the Greenroyd Mill development will have a number of options open to them and we will work with them to come up with a solution that best meets their needs and requirements.”
But Coun Whitaker feared rents would rise because residents would be moving from bedsits to two-bedroom apartments. Yorkshire Housing has said rents would be well below private sector equivalents. They are set by a Government formula based on the size of the property and average rents for similar properties in the area.
Coun Whitaker asked why similar sheltered housing units could not be re-built on the Yeadon House site.
“I understand Yeadon House is no longer fit for purpose, but what are they going to do with this property in 12 months’ time?” he asked. “If they knocked it down, I’d rather see them build something there.”
Yorkshire Housing said it had yet to develop any plans for the site.
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