Council hits out at claims it's 'throwing elderly under bus'

RESIDENTS HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT COMMUNITY CENTRE CHANGES

- By EMILY DALTON

CLAIMS that a Surrey council is turning its back on the elderly have been refuted by the councillor in charge, who argues that the council “doesn’t have a responsibility” to provide community centres.

Community services in Elmbridge could drastically change under new plans that the council says will reach more people and will shift from supporting only the elderly.

“The key thing is we don’t have a responsibility,” said Cllr Gill Coates, leader for community services at Elmbridge Borough Council.

Community centres are not a statutory service, a legal obligation that councils need to provide.

Elmbridge has a history of providing community centres from the war because it had the financial means to do so.

But regular users of the centres and opposition groups have come out against the changes and say that the council is throwing the elderly under the bus with a sustained attack on community centres.