Speaking in the Community Planning Committee on 9th June 2015 Cllr Timothy Gaston, TUV Deputy Mayor for Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, hit out at the proposed downgrading and closure of Pinewood Residential Care Home:
“The heart of the Council’s robust response to the DUP Health Minister should be that Pinewood should be given the opportunity to demonstrate that it is viable and can sustain a healthy number of residents. This has not happened. To date, the ban on new admissions has been in place for a significant number of years which has resulted in Pinewood’s future being uncertain.
“While I welcome a consultation, which will allow all elected members of Mid and East Antrim Council to challenge the Minister in an open and transparent manner, to sustain any long-term future for Pinewood the ban of admissions needs to be lifted with immediate effect”
Cllr Brian Collins, TUV Braid said:
“Let us be absolutely clear – while a ban on new admissions continues, this is closure by stealth. The Minister has continued the ban on admissions, which has resulted in a running down of this much needed residential care home.
“This has starved Pinewood of the oxygen it needs to survive. While on paper it looks like Pinewood is only down to a handful of permanent residents which may look to some like being unsustainable, you have to remember that they cannot take on new residents – even though they have beds and staff to accommodate it.
“Pinewood has been targeted in the most shameful and underhand manner imaginable. My challenge to the DUP is this – turn your words into action by directly challenging your Minister.”