Shaws Wood closed by local Tories
After two years of Tory dithering, during which staff and elderly residents were prematurely made to leave the building, Shaws Wood was finally given its final death sentence in July 2009 as the Tory Cabinet agreed to sell of the land. This despite promises in the Local Election in 2007 when it was claimed that the site would not be sold.
Tory dithering led to vandalism
During the time the Tories dithered over the site, the building has been vandalised, and now will cost more for KCHT (who run Churchlands, Chatham) to renovate and make fit for purpose. However, residents of Shaws Wood were originally told the reason they couldn’t stay was that the building was no longer appropriate for their or the Council’s needs.
Centre Closed despite promises
The closure was signed off by the Tory cabinet in July 2009. Cllr Teresa Murray, Labour Spokesperson for Community Services, said,
“At every step of the way, we have said that the Tories’ plans have been to sell off the land for a capital receipt, that care facilities would be lost, and that people would lose their jobs. The Tories have said that we’re ‘misleading’, ‘mischief-making’, have ‘twisted minds’ and are spreading ‘scare stories’.”
“But here we are- residents were distraught when they were forced out, there are virtually no care or respite beds on the Strood side of the river, eleven people lost their jobs, the Tories gave back the £30 million for their phantom care home, and now the land’s being sold off to fund the Tories’ debt.”
“This is one of the most shameful episodes in Medway’s history. The Tories have repeatedly promised the earth and delivered absolutely nothing.”
Cllr Stephen Hubbard, Labour ward member for Strood North, said,
“In Spring of last year I handed in a petition, signed by over 300 Strood residents, which objected to the sale of the Shaws Wood site because older people in Strood and Frindsbury are being denied the right to a local, council-run day centre and residential service. It called on Medway Council not to sell Shaws Wood and asked for the site to be developed for the use of older people. The correspondence from the Council failed to put aside the impression that Tories had every intent to sell the land for a private housing development - nothing to do with social care of our older residents. And a year down the line, here we are.”
Fibs in the press (from 2006/07)
Medway Standard, 5th December, 2006
“Shaws Wood will very definitely remain in the public sector. It is mischief making and misleading to suggest otherwise. Shaws Wood is to be completely rebuilt to provide a state of the art, council run facility for caring for Medway’s older people.”
Medway Council spokesman
Medway Messenger, 18th December, 2006
“As part of the overall provision of improved care in Medway the substandard accommodations at Shaws Wood, Strood, is also going to be updated and modernised. More good news. Opposition parties couldn’t care less about older people in Medway, and it was the Conservatives who voted the improvements through.”
Cllr Alan Jarrett, Medway Messenger, 23rd March, 2007
“A senior councilor has refused to apologise after wrongly saying there would be no redundancies after the closure of Shaws Wood home. Cllr Tom Mason had insisted in print that no-one would be made redundant when the Shaws Wood home closed.”
