| Summary from the meeting with Precision Care Ltd |
|
|
|
|
Summary from the meeting held between Precision Care Ltd and Representatives of the Residents’ of The Southlands Road Area of Bickley Ward, Bromley on Thursday 26th July 2007.
Mr Ashley Manoff, Property Manager of Precision Care
The company advised that their plan now was to open a facility in accordance with their original application to Bromley Council, for a “Therapeutic home for a maximum of 4 children who may have been abused and/or have some psychological condition, as well as eating disorders or neglect”. They stated that only girls, aged between 12 and 18 years old, would be housed and that they would be seeking referrals from all UK Local Authorities. Most, if not all, of these girls would be educated within Atlanta House. In order to gain Ofsted approval, they would need to submit a new application, from which time it would take a minimum of 16 weeks before being registered. All of the local residents’ representatives made the case forcefully that Precision Care’s plans to open this facility, in whatever form, had been totally mismanaged and had been a Public Relations disaster for the company, which would now find it exceedingly difficult to gain local confidence and support, almost regardless of the type of facility they intended opening. Given this mishandling, their ability to efficiently manage a home for these children was called into question. Not surprisingly, they refuted this and defended their actions to date, suggesting that local residents were being unfair and not prepared to help the less fortunate in society. It was pointed out to them that they are not a charity, but a commercial enterprise. Wil Sloan informed us that they had acquired 247 Southlands Road as it was deemed to be a suitable house, rather than because they had perceived a need for such a facility in this area. ( Bromley Council’s Director of Adult and Community Services department has already stated as a matter of public record that “ this situation had not been brought about by the Council and was not being proposed to meet the needs of Bromley young people”) In the light of the negative views expressed at this meeting about Precision Care’s actions thus far, Messrs Manoff and Sloan told us that they would now review their plans over the next 2 weeks and decide on one of two courses of action, i.e. either to proceed with their plans to open a facility according to the wording of the Certificate of Lawfulness already granted to them by Bromley Council or to dispose of the property and take their plans elsewhere. They committed to communicate their decision to us via Councillor Jenkins. Councillor Jenkins thanked them for their time and, in conclusion, stated that he felt that, in his view, Precision Care had created such a strength of ill-will locally through their mismanagement of this process that they were extremely unlikely to be able to convince local people that any facility at Atlanta House would be acceptable. |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
