Sir — Dunmuir Park Hostel, Castle Douglas - more hypocrisy?
Your article on Thursday, May 4 names us and lists the nine bullet points in an email letter we received from Councillor Maitland on April 24, just two days before the public meeting where she and Councillor Purdie were quite properly called to account. What a pity that former Convener, Councillor Campbell was not able to be present and also face his highly critical constituents directly.
We totally agree these are very important questions that still need to be clarified. That’s why they were already highlighted in the 19 points we detailed for all ASSC Councillors to consider in our January written submission before they made the February 2 decision.
We had already replied to Councillor Maitland’s letter asking her to explain why she did not ask these questions then at the proper time, on February 2 in committee? This was when she, as part of the then ruling administration, simply ‘rubber stamped’ the Dunmuir Park closure, without any of the scrutiny she now agrees was necessary.
Councillor Maitland then deliberately chose not to question officers about these aspects of a report that we said was badly flawed. And she refused our reasonable request to simply delay that decision to consult and listen to the families’ concerns.
On March 27 she and Councillors Purdie and Campbell also told us they “had to be guided by the professionals” but she also didn’t show this concern then either. This attitude is now being called ‘institutional arrogance’.
Only Councillor Kathleen Davidson argued for such consultation, yet she was brushed aside. Why then this public pretence of such concern nearly three months later?
We say pretence because as she left that public meeting a few weeks ago, and despite all the evidence then again presented to her first hand, she told a mother it is, “unlikely I will change my mind about closure”.
So it is fair to ask her whether this is just another public relations stunt and more political point scoring? If not, then surely Councillor Maitland and her local colleagues, former convener Campbell and then committee chair Councillor Purdie, will now wish to publicly confirm they all support our request to revoke that decision immediately and so remove the ongoing blight they have put on all the families?
After all, it’s a very simple thing to do and will remedy the mistake all now agree was made on February 2 and previously in 2001/2002. If she and they will not do this immediately and action a real practical ‘apology’, then we invite readers to conclude that what Councillor Maitland has chosen to take from our January submission is exposed as no more than self-serving political hypocrisy; but it’s at the expense of all our learning disabled relatives who rely upon the whole Dunmuir Park model of care.
Chris & Janet Green
Attorneys for Mr D G Emmerson and for the ‘Dunmuir Park families’
