Massive Petition To Save Heller House

Senior Labour politician Dr Onkar Sahota adds his name to campaign

Ealing's Heller House threatened with closure from Ealing Save Our NHS on Vimeo.

One of Ealing's largest ever petitions of nearly 10,000 names - including that of a senior Labour politician - has been gathered in attempt to stop the closure of Heller House.

Councillors agreed in February to shut the only home for youngsters with complex needs in the borough. For the last few months it's been wound down and is expected to close fully at the end of next week.

The home on Norwood Road in Southall has provided respite for families throughout the borough and has been described as a vital lifeline for many.

Ealing Council has previously said it would 'continue to meet its statutory obligation to provide respite care to eligible families by supporting individual choice and where required commissioning packages of care from respite providers in Ealing and neighbouring boroughs.'

However parents say this will involve sending children away from Ealing - sometimes quite far - which they don't believe is a practical solution.

Siobhan Bryer set up the petition which calls for the council to consider other options other than closure. The so called ' third option' would be to have a private developer build a state-of-the-art respite centre in exchange for a portion of the site which would be used for redevelopment.

The petition has now reached more than 6,100 names online and more than 3,000 on paper. Ms Bryer says that last week Labour's London Assembly Member, Dr Onkar Sahota, added his name and told her he fully supports the campaign.

He said, "Ensuring families have respite care is absolutely vital but everyone concerned knows that Heller House is no longer fit for purpose. A state-of-the-art respite centre should be the goal that everyone should be working towards. I know that Ealing Council will be working closely with the families to deliver a solution that meets their needs".

Ms Bryer added, ''The reaction has been fantastic It is the largest petition in 13 years in the borough which shows the strength of feeling of residents.''

A council spokesperson said, “Our priority is to provide the highest possible quality of care that best meets the needs of young people with disabilities and their families. Heller House is an old Victorian building that is no longer suitable to meet the young people’s complex and wide ranging needs.

“All of the families currently receiving support at Heller House will be offered a reasonable alternative service in Ealing or a neighbouring borough before the service is closed. The council will continue to ensure that a wide range of respite support is available to families caring for disabled children, including the option of overnight support away from home where this is necessary.

“Following the public consultation which took place earlier this year, the council is carrying out a feasibility study of options for the site. The study will look at proposals received through the consultation, including a proposal by campaigners for the site to be sold to a developer who would build a new respite facility on part of the land which would be rented back to the council known as the ‘third option’ by campaigners. We are taking all of these options seriously and have met with one of the ‘third option’ campaigners. Recommendations from the study will be brought back to cabinet for consideration.”

1st June 2016