Parent protest at opening of Sutton flats for disabled adults (From Surrey Comet)

Parent protest at opening of Sutton flats for disabled adults

9:00am Saturday 6th February 2010

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Parents of vulnerable and seriously disabled adults protested at the opening of the newly built £3m Ashcombe Court.

Colin Milne, 70, whose son Darrell, 46, has the mental capacity of a two-year-old and has epilepsy, walked out as councillors officially opened the site.

The self-contained flats were built for the former high-dependent residents of the Orchard Hill centre after Sutton Council claimed it was necessary in order to comply with Government requirements.

However, parents say independent living is not suitable for their children.

They have raised concerns care plans are underfunded and that the ratio of eight carers to 10 adults means their children are being left alone and at risk Mr Milne said: “Some people do not get into bed until after midnight, if my son Darrell could vocalise he would be saying, ‘What have I done to deserve this?’.

Meanwhile, more parents of relatives at Cedar Close, which is part of the Orchard Hill site, say their fears for their children, who will be moved this year, have been compounded since the Sutton Guardian reported Mr Milne’s concerns.

Widow Ira Murray, 62, whose epileptic son Danny, 36, cannot talk or communicate, and parent Brian Dear, 67, whose son Antony, 42, has been living at Cedar for 24 years, both said parents had been fighting for many years to retain the current situation, but had “not been listened to”.

Mr Dear said the council’s official line on the matter was “tendentious propaganda”.

He said: “This is not to deny the expenditure lavished on this development, which has certainly produced a building of superb quality.

“However, I’m sure I’m not alone among parents with a profoundly learning disabled child in Sutton in feeling intense frustration at the council’s claims for the transformational impact of ‘independent’ living, which seem hugely exaggerated and appear to be a potential excuse for reductions in staff cover.”

Executive member for adult social services Councillor Colin Stearson said: “Seven Sutton residents living at Cedar Close will move into new, one bedroom, supported living homes in Carshalton at the end of the year.

“They will get all the support they need to live with dignity and in privacy. They will enjoy a much better quality of life.”

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