Dear Councillors,
I am writing to you on a matter of great concern to the people of Ruislip and Ruislip Manor. You will be aware that Ruislip Residents’ Association (RRA) is vehemently opposed to the closure of the Rural Activities Garden Centre (RAGC), which we believe to be a valuable resource for the residents of the London Borough of Hillingdon.
This is not a ‘commercial garden centre’, as described by Cllr Lavery, but a key feature in the borough’s provision of social care for adults with learning disabilities, that happens to sell plants as part of the service it provides, thereby subsidising some of its costs. We fully understand the financial issues that many Local Councils are facing, however, the RAGC is a unique service that offers so much more than selling plants, and supports some of the most vulnerable members of our community. The cost, stated by the Council as £138,000, works out at about 44p per resident of Hillingdon – that will buy you about half a Mars bar! In terms of council finances, the cost of closing the RAGC and working out suitable alternative care for those who work there, will be higher. This has raised concerns with the Residents’ Associations that this is not the real reason for closing the Centre, and that we are being deliberately misled by the Council – this is not acceptable!
There is grave concern with the haste at which the proposal is being pushed through, which in itself is a separate matter for the local Residents’ Associations, who are increasingly raising the lack of consultation by the Council at the regular HARA meetings.
Having watched the petition hearing with Cllr Lavery and four senior Council officers, I can only say that it gave every appearance of being a pretence of democracy. There was no real response to the petitions, making a mockery of all the work the petitioners had done to raise their petitions and prepare their petitioner’s address to Cllr Lavery. It also wasted the time of four officers.
The RRA is hoping that the many residents of Hillingdon who have signed the petitions will be listened to and that, as a minimum, there is a stay of execution so that a better solution can be drawn up.
As councillors elected by the people of Ruislip and Ruislip Manor I hope that we can rely on your support in this matter,
Best wishes,
Graham Bartram
Chairman
Ruislip Residents’ Association
Protecting the interests of local residents for 100 years
We received a somewhat astonishing reply from Councillor Douglas Mills.
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