Retirement Living

The McCarthy and Stone development on The Avenue which was so unpopular as it went through the planning process last year is nearing completion. Timothy Hackworth Court sales office is open for business and today a range of people from local businesses and the community were invited to see for themselves what is on offer. John Fletcher and I went along as ward councillors because we will represent the residents once they move in. It was useful to see the building and the kind of flats which are being constructed. More helpful was to meet the House Manager and discuss some of the possible ways of helping new residents to fit into the community in Eaglescliffe and Preston. The new vicar of All Saints church was there with some members of the church, as was the Methodist minister so I'm sure the churches will be helping those who wish to become involved to settle into new congregations quickly.
Looking at the amount of work going on around the grounds and in the building it was hard to envisage the first residents being in there in July.
Sadly, now that we've got them, the prices mean that they're not affordable for a lot of the Eaglescliffe residents who would like to move to something smaller and more manageable. We'll just have to keep trying to get more affordable housing for all ages when other developers come wth applications for our area.
Tonight the democratic accountability of the planning system took another blow with the passage of the Planning bill through Parliament. 16 Labour rebels weren't enough to defeat the government and so yet another quango will come into being - The Independent Planning Commission will decide on applications for big infrastructure projects, not the councils elected to represent the people of the area. I know that the planning system needs some reform, but it doesn't need to be taken out of the hands of local people. And this same government wonders why people lose the will to vote in local elections!