Gale Farm Court residents offered hope by Andrew Waller
Gale Farm Court
Andrew Waller has stepped into the controversy surrounding Labours decision to stop lunch time meals at Gale Farm Court.
Andrew is trying to involve local cafes and the library in providing an alternative service.
He comments
“Residents have asked for the quality of their meals to be improved so that there was a greater take-up and costs could be controlled. Some even raised that issue with the council leader in the Community Conversation on 13th February.
Little did they know that by raising dissatisfaction with the quality of their meals that this would result in the council axing the service”
Numbers taking the meals at Gale Farm Court had dwindled due to poor perceived quality and value for money from the current provider, with some residents often getting different food to what they had offered. Some residents have not had a choice to cook for themselves due to their personal circumstances, and this is a huge let down for them.
Meeting together for meals was an effective way to reduce isolation which has been highlighted as a problem in the local area by a number of agencies including the Joseph Rowntree Trust.
Attempts had been made through Acomb Alive! to engage with local Acomb cafes and restaurants to provide alternatives which were more popular – there was a trial on 13th July with a local provider which was well supported by residents.
The expectation was that this was going to be developed to provide a range of meals which better met resident’s demands, with support for local businesses being a mutual support.
Instead there may now be too little time to sort this out which is very disappointing.
A more open process should have been adopted from the beginning and yet again residents are left feeling that decisions are being made behind closed doors forced as a result of the poor spending controls of the current council”.
