Neuadd Maldwyn: Elderly flats plan queried by residents

Council bosses had planned to sell the Grade II-listed building but now want it converted

Plans to turn former county council offices into supported housing for elderly people have been questioned by a town council and local residents.

They are sceptical of the need to covert the Grade II-listed Neuadd Maldwyn in Welshpool into an extra care facility with 66 flats.

Powys social services say young people leaving the county are being replaced by twice as many elderly people.

Welshpool Town Council said elderly services were already under pressure.

Neuadd Maldwyn dates back to 1927 when it was built for the former Montgomeryshire County Council, with extensions in the 1930s and 1950s.

Powys councillors had planned to sell the building but have now engaged Clwyd Alyn housing association to convert it.

Agents for Clwyd Alyn said accommodation for elderly people had "been identified as a significant social need".

"Secure, comfortable accommodation will be provided for Welshpool's ageing population near the centre of town, helping residents to maintain established connections with friends and family, along with local shops and amenities," they said in the application.

However, Welshpool's interim town clerk Ann Wilson said: "There is concern about the development being for a single age group - not mixed accommodation.

"It is known that there is a shortage of carers locally which means that there is a continual need for agency staff to travel into Welshpool to carry out this type of work."

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She pointed out that the town, with fewer than 7,000 people, already had 16 care, supported living or nursing homes.

"This shows that this age group is adequately catered for already," she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"We remain overwhelmingly sceptical of the need and quality of the end result," she said.

Powys currently has an extra care facility at nearby Newtown, with others planned for Brecon and Ystradgynlais.