Brookwood Manor, the Nursing Home to the north of Little Waldingfield, was recently subject to a major planning application to extend the home. I saw no reason to oppose the measures since the plans appeared to be very sympathetic to the red brick building which is pictured above. It is also true that we need more nursing home places for residents with dementia, the home provides much needed local jobs, and the extension arguably improves the viability of what is quite a small facility at present.
What has happened over the past few weeks however has made me worry about how the development will actually turn out. The owners of the Home have ripped out a number of attractive windows and replaced them with unsightly and inappropriate plastic alternatives. More recently, despite having assured residents that they would not do so, several original leaded and stained glass windows have been removed and trashed This can only be described as an act of vandalism, which affects not just the look of the building itself, but its relationship to at least one nearby property with similar window treatment.
Despite the fact that in theory planning permission for the changes to the windows should have been sought, the officers at Babergh it seems have been unable to do much about the desecration. The stated reason stems from the fact that English Heritage did not see fit, at the time of the planning application, to agree that the building was worthy of listing.
English Heritage are of course, the experts, and in part the reason could have been that there had already been some unsightly modernisation at the property. However, taking a quick look at the website of the Victorian Society we learn here that actually it is almost impossible to get a house of this type listed due to the nature of the criteria used. This in itself is disturbing since many of our favourite landmarks date from that era (think Belle Vue House in Sudbury).
The house has significant historical value and this is reflected in the designs worked into some of the now shattered glass. Among other things it was the first home of the adjacent Sound Research Laboratory. Looking further back however, if you google the former name of the house, Holbrook Hall, you will find records and information about the estate dating right back to mediaeval times.
Babergh has recently appointed a Heritage Manager, and purports to be concerned about preservation of the area's historical attractions. Although the Manager does his best he seems to be swimming against the tide, the principle thrust of policy being economic growth at all costs. This explains why there was not much sign of commitment to heritage assets when the Prolog application was under discussion, and here we have another instance of a failure to live up to the council's stated aspirations.
Not only do Brookwood Manor management not care about preserving Little Waldingfield village history, despite assurances they would, they also do not properly care for people in their care.
ReplyDeleteThis is clearly demonstrated by the following direct quotes from the latest Care Quality Commission Inspection Report, which included enforcement action (and not for the first time).
It is about time the management did their job properly rather than playing fast and loose with their responsibilities.
CQC Inspection Report October 2013
Records
People's personal records, including medical records, should be accurate and kept safe and confidential.
Our judgement
The provider was not meeting this standard.
People were not protected from the risks of unsafe or inappropriate care and treatment because accurate and appropriate records were not maintained.
We have judged that this has a major impact on people who use the service and have taken enforcement action against this provider.