A petition which has called for the council to fund the reopening of three bistros has been heard by councillors at Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

The three bistros are Willow Barns, Maple West and Oak Priory inside a retirement village in Packmoor.

The petition gained a total of 1000 signatures, however only 320 could be verified. This was put down to the fear of identity theft, which meant many residents in the retirement villages where the bistros operated only provided a signature.

Lead petitioner Peter Hodgkinson, chairperson of the Maple West Residents Association and lives at Maple West on Turnhurst Road, Packmoor told councillors: "We have been without a bistro or kitchen within the three villages for nearly three years. We are made up of a great deal of disabled and elderly people who find looking after their own catering as near on impossible.

"The kitchen that we used prior to the closure was a main hub for these people to attend with relatives and friends, it became a really important part of our community. The main reason we decided to push this is the effect it seems to have had on residents within the three communities.

"We've seen a great deal of elderly people who have been neglected, we've seen a great deal of elderly people, in our opinion we believe are suffering because they have had nowhere they can go and liaise with other relatives and neighbours."

The residents committee approached Your Housing Group, who manages the retirement villages to see if they could come to an agreement to see how the bistros can be reopened but have not been successful. Instead they launched a breakfast morning which was attended by 40 residents, however many were unable to attend due to care needs.

Mr Hodgkinson added: "We were approached by the local school, Watermill, which is a special needs school. The headmaster and deputy head both sent us emails in the past about how they would love to get involved with the catering side of things, if we get it back up and running. It would give them a chance to introduce the children to us and us to the children.

The school is interested in involving residents of the village in giving talks on work and the past. This is something the local ward councillor has been involved in and wants to see these retirement villages benefit not only the residents but the wider community.

Speaking after the meeting Councillor David Mountford (Lab) who has been supporting residents said: "In the challenging economic times the Council is currently faced with we as Councillors are striving to promote a collaborative approach towards getting the bistros at Maple West, Willow Barnes and Oak Priory retirement villages reinstated.

"Although the council have no legal obligation to assist, morally I think such an approach in lending assistance and encouraging local businesses or charities to support the reinstatement would be of benefit not only to the residents of the retirement villages but of also the wider communities in the localities who would be invested in the community aspect to create diverse, multigenerational hubs."

Many councillors supported the aims of the petition, Councillor Lorraine Beardmore (Con) said: "I absolutely support what you are saying, it's not just about the eating facilities but the social aspect. Councillor Joan Bell (Lab) said she attended the first public meeting and the facilities are what made people decide to live there, she said that "I really feel we have a duty to provide those meals for them now."

Responding to the petition Peter Tomlin, Director of Adult Social Care, Health Integration and Wellbeing said: "I'd be happy to meet with you to pick up the issues with regards to trying to enable businesses to come in and to be able to run the bistro, we will do everything we can to enable and support that to happen. The financial aspect, as you are aware, we have no legal or statutory responsibility to provide this and we are in a position at the moment whereby we are only providing our legal and statutory responsibilities at the current time."

Your Housing Group is in charge of the retirement villages where the bistros are located. In a statement the group have blamed Covid for the closures and say they are working with the council on finding a new provider.

Paula Marshall, Director of Housing & Customer Service for Your Housing Group commented: "The onsite Bistros at Maple West, Oak Priory and Willow Barns have always been operated by an outside caterer and closed due to financial pressures contributed to by Covid closures. We do sympathise with residents who are keen to see them reopen, and Your Housing Group has been supporting the City of Stoke on Trent in finding a new catering provider as soon as possible." 

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