Sunday 28 July 2013

Will the real lunatics please step forward?

The present government has been obsessed with waste and mismanagement since finding themselves in power. These two scourges of our times have been free to view in any town you care to mention. If though, you would like to be directed to an exceptional example of both waste and mismanagement, I can help. The town where I live is arguably a shining light of what happens to towns who hand over too much power to their local council.

News emerged this week that the local council intends to pursue a compulsory purchase order on the now derelict North Wales Hospital. If there is a more potent example of resource waste than this one, I would be amazed. Granted, Gordon Brown really did think it was ok to sell off the national gold reserve but that apart, the story which I now share with you is shameful on almost every level.

The history of the North Wales Hospital is really the history of mental illness treatment in Wales since its opening in 1848. That it was even built in the first place was a culmination of several events and a massive will to change things for the better by the local community. Go to any psychiatric unit in the UK and I will wager that in addition to the people working there being familiar with Denbigh, they will also be reverential in their regard. Denbigh was legendary and often set the standard which others followed. A mini community in its own right, it was largely self supporting and regularly provided meaningful activities for its patients. It often staged performances which starred the patients and the provision of sports and music makes today's offering look utterly pathetic. It took the five counties of Denbighshire, Flintshire, Meirionethshire, Caernarfonshire and Anglesey to pool their resources to make this happen. The fundraising effort was given its initial impetus by a sizeable donation from both Queen Victoria and her son the Prince of Wales. The land was kindly donated by a local landowner. The rest is history and the project grew and grew to become an 1800 bed institution with its own nurse training facility. If it was still running as it did in 1995 at the time of its closure, they would be justified in charging an entrance fee to marvel at its gardens.

In common with the other former lunatic asylums dating from the Victorian era, the writing was on the wall for Denbigh following a speech by Enoch Powell in 1960 wish became the precursor for "care in the community". Governments make decisions. They don't always get them right but once the decision is made, there is no going back. In 1995, Denbigh closed its doors for the last time and the provision of mental healthcare in North Wales changed for good.

The real scandal with Denbigh started from the moment those doors closed in 1995. Sold initially to a company which sought to develop the site, the council rejected their plans. The first company became so disillusioned with the lack of support, they sold the site and the next owner suffered the same experience. It has been a sad story. The current owners are abroad and have understandably lost interest in the site having had any proposals to develop it thwarted by the council.

That is an extremely condensed history of what has happened during the last 18 years. The interim has seen the hospital become derelict and a haven for kids and explorers of all persuasions. A serious fire broke out in 2008 with many parts of the building now unsafe. The council announced this week their intention to pursue a compulsory purchase order on the property. The farm opposite has since been sold (asset stripped) as have the sports playing fields (asset stripped) and several houses on the site (asset stripped).

Due to their legendary short-sightedness, the local council has recently had to fork out over £900,000 just to try and make safe this once magnificent building. It is pertinent to point out at this point that while they were wondering what they might be able to bring themselves to agree to for its future use, they built a brand new council office building in the town which would have been semi-detached if it had been any closer! £900,000 of public money is now being frittered away as the result of unbelievably poor decisions at the time of its original sale.

Compulsory purchase is a scandal. What it really means is that your local council (wherever you happen to live) has the absolute power to assume ownership of any public building as they see fit. If they condescend to pay for the said building, they do so within the statutory six year period. Six years! Tax payers assets and money? Absolutely scandalous. For the record, they are answerable to nobody and do exactly as they please. They can even decide to bulldoze the entire site if it takes their fancy. Does that sound a little far fetched? Sadly, it isn't.

As I write, the former Market Hall in Colwyn Bay is no more. Conwy council assumed ownership under a compulsory purchase scheme nearly three years ago. As yet, they haven't paid a penny but they have raised it to the ground. The Market Hall in Colwyn Bay is no more because the council can do exactly as it pleases with no recourse to anybody. Don't just take my word for it though. All the details are there for all to see on a basic search engine. If their incompetence hadn't already reached rock bottom , they have surpassed themselves this time. Although they have demolished the site, they remain undecided about what to do with it! The arrogance is without compare. I only state facts here. I do not intend to cause offence but I believe passionately that people have a right to know the truth about the people in power who make massive decisions in your locality.

Denbigh hospital was originally built to house lunatics deemed to be in need of care. Much derided and widely feared, the lunatic became a figure considered to be a risk to the society they inhabited. I'm now beginning to wonder who the real lunatics are. Watch this space for reports of the final demise of the Denbigh hospital - the former jewel in the crown which has been squandered needlessly away.        

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