I am surprised no one appears to have consulted the Brighton and Hove Older People's Council (OPC) about plans for the Brighton station site.
Those of you who use the station car park regularly know the approach for vehicles and foot traffic is up a very steep hill.
You can approach the station and car park on foot by the station forecourt but the way into the front of the station is up another steep hill.
If you arrive by taxi you do not face the steep climb but not everyone can afford the fares. Buses run to the front of the forecourt and, for many, they are very handy.
But if you live out at Patcham, for example, there is no direct bus to get you to the station without either a walk up one of the steep approaches or a change of bus in the town centre, complete with all your bags and baggage.
I am glad to see the OPC has taken the initiative and written to the planning department and raised a number of points with them concerning consideration for the needs of the older members of the city.
It appears there may be a Sainsbury's superstore built on the site, which inevitably means the London Road Sainsbury's will have to close. Currently the store is on the flat, served by many buses and easily approachable by taxi or on foot.
No one seems to have considered asking the OPC for any official view on the proposed plans.
As individuals, any of their members can put in a view for or against the planning application but I thought the whole point of the OPC was to be consulted on any matters which might affect the older generation.
This major planning application seems an excellent example of such a matter.
It may be that plans for buses to the site have already been considered but, if this is so, why not keep the OPC informed and not leave it to their officers to bring the matter to the planners' attention?
Now is the time for such things to be considered, not as an afterthought when plans are too advanced to be changed.
If the city council does not intend to use the OPC as a genuine sounding-board for the older and less able among the city's residents, why waste time and money setting up the organisation in the first place?
This is not the only time the OPC has ridden into battle on behalf of its members recently.
One of the pleasures of retirement is to have more time to read books and listen to music.
Suddenly, and without any consultation, the loan period for CDs and other musical items has been reduced from three weeks to one.
Alan Issler, the community and development manager for the libraries, has admitted it is a move designed to make some money and admitted there had been no public consultation.
Unless you have a subscription, the cost of borrowing has gone up from 80p for three weeks to 80p for one week.
Doreen Radford, chairwoman of the OPC, made the views of the group very clear when she said the cost was too high and the time-span too short when such things as travel were taken into account. Older people often have to depend on friends and carers to change records and library books and a week was far too short a time-span.
It is good to see the OPC showing its teeth and I hope it will continue to do so. It is also one of the best organisations in the city for keeping me in touch with matters affecting the Third Age and I wish it good hunting for causes which need airing.
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