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Adult care centre under threat

1:22am Monday 1st October 2007

By Siobhan Ryan »

Fears have been raised over the future of a day centre for adults with learning disabilities.

The St Nicholas centre in Lewes is one of six sites whose future is being reviewed by East Sussex County Council.

The authority has started a consultation with residents, users, carers and staff and a final report is expected to be discussed in March.

The review has led to fear among campaigners who last year unsuccessfully fought to stop the council closing the Avis Way day centre in Newhaven.

The 45 adults who used Avis Way were sent to other centres, including St Nicholas.

A meeting was held last week between council officers and carers, relatives and service users, in which officials outlined the review.

Campaigner Mike Cookson, from Seaford, said: "It was not really clear what they we were trying to say and the meeting ended up a bit of a farce.

"We have been through all this before with Avis Way and many are worried the same thing is going to happen to St Nicholas.

"This is a complex and serious problem "People have a lot of concerns, particularly about transport and getting people to and from the centre.

"We want to have much more input into this review and will be doing what we can to get our points of view and concerns across."

A county council spokeswoman said: "We understand people are concerned about St Nicholas but absolutely no decisions have been made about its future. St Nicholas is just one of six day centres we are looking at as part of the review of all services for older people and adults with learning disabilities provided by East Sussex County Council.

"We want to make sure we can offer high-quality services to the growing number of people with learning disabilities in the county.

"We are at the very beginning of a long process of consultation.

"This means we will be asking staff, carers, service users and stakeholders for their views about the centre and how services can be improved."

There are plans for a series of drop-in sessions, discussions and meetings regarding the review. People will also be able to write in and email comments as the review progresses.

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