Six-Month Reprieve For Nairn Day Centre

A HIGHLAND day centre earmarked for closure has received a six-month stay of execution while its future is re-examined.

MacLean Court in Albert Street, Nairn, was due to shut as part of Highland Council budget cuts announced last month.

However, it emerged last night that the centre, which is used by 18 elderly people, is to remain open for another six months. Tomorrow, the council’s housing and social work committee will be asked to continue funding MacLean Court “until the users of the facility are consulted about future service provision and a review of support for older people in Nairn is concluded”.

The council says it will consult the 18 elderly people who use the communal lounge area of the council-run housing complex on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays for day care, while the views of Highland Community Care Forum will also be taken into account.

Councillor Margaret Davidson, chairwoman of the housing and social work committee, said: “Taking extra time to consider the future care for older people is designed to achieve an outcome which best meets their needs.

“There is also a review of informal day care services currently under way in Nairn. We will bring together the results of both reviews and discuss them in Nairn with local elected members.”

The plight of users of MacLean Court was highlighted by the Press and Journal last month, when one user, blind 89-year-old Mary Lewis, described the centre as a lifeline.

At the time, the Forres-born widow, who has used the facility for two years, said: “There is good company and it keeps your brain active.”

It was thought that about £35,000 would be sliced off Highland Council’s budget by closing MacLean Court and reducing similar services elsewhere in the region.