I am amazed that the council/ community council have agreed to the current plan for social elderly housing on the Victoria Hotel site. It is wrong on so many counts. To build flats for the elderly without parking provision is short sighted. It is also an insult to the proposed residents. With adapted cars and the Mobility scheme, who is to say that none of the residents will want to retain the measure of freedom that a car can give. But that is far from the main issue.
If the residents are so elderly, then it is reasonable to expect they will need considerable help; carers, doctors, nurses, chiropodists, hairdressing, food train deliveries and the rest. All of these services use vehicles to attend their clients. No doubt the argument is that there are a couple of hundred parking spaces on the seafront car park opposite the development. But we all know how quickly that fills on good summer days. With the limited time given to carers how will they maintain their schedules?
Also with predicted climate change and rising tidal heights is this site not liable to be affected by tidal flooding? So then we have the issue of having to evacuate elderly residents. (Ah well it will give the Community Resilience Team something to do).
If we must have amenity housing because nobody else wants the site then build flats for fit young adults and put the building on stilts so that a number of cars can be accommodated.
Harvey Green
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