Drugs centre planned next to special needs school
Richard Evans, local democracy reporter
Concerned residents and councillors have questioned the placement of a proposed drug and alcohol centre next to a special needs school.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has applied to Conwy County Council’s planning department, seeking permission for a drug and alcohol centre at Roslin on Nant y Gamar Road, Craig y Don, Llandudno.
The health board wishes to convert the building, which was previously used for midwifery services, into a substance misuse clinic with counselling rooms on the building’s ground floor.
Betsi want the associated office accommodation to be on the basement, first, and second floors.
But some residents are concerned that Roslin is in a residential area and only a stone’s throw away from Ysgol Gogarth.
Placement
Resident Geoffrey Stone commented: “The property concerned has been, until they moved, a centre for midwives and is situated across the road from the pedestrian entrance of Ysgol y Gogarth, a school for special needs children.
He added: “We cannot understand who in their right minds would wish to locate a drug users’ clinic opposite and next door to a school for special needs children.”
Craig y Don councillor Frank Bradfield said he was fully supportive of drugs and alcohol services but questioned the placement of the project.
Cllr Bradfield said: “The building has got to be used for something. It has been lying empty for ages. Whether or not it should be used for that project is debatable.
“I think the public should reply as part of the planning process and make their views heard.
“I’m not against anything that is there to help the public. I think people who suffer with misuse of drugs or alcohol should be helped. But that, to me, is not the question.
“It is a residential area opposite a special needs school for children who are vulnerable and have disabilities. The question should be is this the most suitable premises for such a project to be held?”
The NHS say that if the application is granted, 32 full-time employees will be based at the centre as well as four part-time jobs.
The plans will be debated at a future Conwy planning committee meeting at Bodlondeb.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board was contacted by the local democracy reporting service for a comment.
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Detoxification alone without subsequent treatment generally leads to resumption of drug and alcohol misuse, hence the clinical preference for additional interventions like counselling and cognitive behavioral therapies. Clinical studies show relapse rates of between 40 and 60%. At issue is the strategy employed. Some ‘therapy centres’ are more successful than others and the determining factor is access to triggers of relapse. No good if a centre becomes a pushers paradise and social isolation projects (there was one in Ceredigion, the Rhoserchan unit) become unsustainable. This article does not state what the intentions of Betsi Cadwaladr are and given the chaotic… Read more »