Reading Council’s scheme for Extra Care Housing on the old Avenue School site is under threat as, following the formation of the ConDem Coalition at Westminster, the Homes & Communities Agency has put all New Build programmes “on hold” until after the Budget on 22 June, when it expects to be required to make more savings over and above the £230Million already announced.
The Avenue Extra Care scheme, which has been the subject of local consultation and has planning permission, is designed to support 40 older people, enabling them to live as independently as possible. It is a major element in the new direction of community care that was being pursued by the previous Labour Council.
Cllr. Deborah Edwards, Shadow Lead Councillor for Housing, says: “This would be such an important scheme for Reading, serving our older people for decades to come, that it would be a tragedy if it was abandoned now through this sort of short-term thinking. It would take residents from across the town as a whole, and I would hope that both Reading’s Conservative M.P.’s would be making it plain to their Government that this scheme must go ahead.”
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