Pwllheli care home saved, but Harlech home face axe

IT LOOKS likely that a Pwllheli care home is to remain open, after overwhelming support persuaded Gwynedd Council to shelve plans for its closure.

The authority has been considering many options including closing the Tan y Marian home while it attempts to make savings in the region of £200,000.

But in a report due to be presented to the authority’s Care Scrutiny Committee next Tuesday, it’s recommended that the home is to be saved from the axe.

The council had been considering the changes to residential care in Dwyfor and Meirionnydd as part of its ongoing policy to support independent living within the community.

However, the news isn’t so positive in the Harlech area, where it’s likely that the residents of Pant yr Eithin will be relocated and the home closed in its present form.

Twenty members of staff are currently employed at Tan y Marian, while 16 work at Pant yr Eithin, although it’s unknown how many jobs would be saved and lost as result of these proposals.

mThese findings are the result of a public consultation which took place earlier in the year, where residents and the public were invited to submit their views on the future of residential care, with public meetings held in Pwllheli, Harlech and Penrhyndeudraeth.

The strength of opposition to these plans was obvious when a petition supporting attempts to save Tan y Marian was signed by 2,803 members of the public, with 1141 supporting a similar petition to keep Pant yr Eithin open.

Gwen Carrington, Gwynedd Council’s head of social services and housing, said: “We cannot ignore the fact that the council has to implement a massive savings strategy to make ends meet.

“In identifying potential savings, our priority has been to find more efficient ways of working so that we can minimise the impact on vulnerable people. We feel that this is a much better way forward than the only other option which would involve doing away with some services.

“The best option would be for the council to make far better and more efficient use of its current accommodation resources.

“As a result, the Learning Disabilities Project Board has come to the conclusion that we can no longer afford to continue to run two facilities in the Dwyfor and Meirionnydd areas of the county if we want to continue to deliver the best possible level of residential care for adults and are recommending that Pant yr Eithin be closed and Tan y Marian upgraded so that it can accommodate additional residents.”

The report’s findings will be discussed when the Care Scrutiny Committee next meet on Tuesday, June 28.