COUNTY and local councillor Andrew Govier has stressed the importance of preventing Ivy House in Wellington from closing.

It follows a meeting with residents earlier this week to discuss the possible closure of Ivy House by Abbeyfield Society.

Cllr Govier wrote to Abbeyfield, saying: “Your announcement has caused huge anxiety with your tenants, and some were on the verge of tears when giving me their views and feelings. They love living in Ivy House and want to remain doing so.

“We discussed with tenants the reasons given in your email to me for closure. It was quite clear that there were a number of factual errors in the rationale behind closing Ivy House. Your stated reasons for planning to close the site appear to fall into three categories: the energy rating, provision of en suite facilities and the size of the rooms.

“Through some initial research, it is clear that most of the flats are already ‘C’ rated and the couple of exceptions require only minimal work to achieve the rating as they are currently ‘D’ rated.

“On the second issue, all of the flats have en suite facilities and are self-contained for all residents’ needs, as far as I can see not needing the major configuration that you seem to suggest.

“The third point, on the size of the rooms, I was assured that all the rooms were larger than the required minimum depending on their type, studio or one bedroom. At the residents’ invitation, I visited several flats at the end of the meeting, and they all told me how the flats met their various mobility requirements. All the rooms looked smart and well maintained, as did the rest of the building. I was also advised that the boiler and heating system had gone through an upgrade last year and the heating was efficient. It was clear the building is well maintained with all the adaptations you would expect, with grab rails etc on every corridor. I accept that I am a layman in the housing provision, but this seems to be as ‘purpose built’ as you could get.

“I understand that Abbeyfield may be going through tough financial times and a property review is essential but this particular facility seems to have been unfairly categorised. Would it be possible to know the agreement that you had with Rotary when they transferred the properties to you, I believe, in 2011.

“As things stand, the current consultation means that the anxiety and uncertainty will remain in place until at least the end of July. I feel this is an intolerable situation to put these residents through and I urge you to embark on a different course of action.

“As a number of them said, this is affecting their physical and mental health on a daily basis and this stress will continue until the outcome is known. I think that there should be an urgent meeting between yourselves, Somerset Council and the other stakeholders to review the assessment of the building and plan a way forward. In the meantime, I feel that you should remove the threat of closure and reassure the residents that you are working to secure the future of their homes, rather than towards closure.

“As far as I can see, there is no circumstance in which the closure of Ivy House, makes either social or financial sense. Even if the outcome, is the transfer to another housing provider, this establishment must be saved.”

• Ivy House is one of two homes in Wellington which face closure by Abbeyfield; the other is The Old Vicarage.

Abbeyfield has been asked to comment.