Wardens for elderly urged

Press, 30 August 1977, Page 2

Wardens for elderly urged

Disagreement is growing among Christchurch City councillors over how much official attention should be paid to pensioners living in council flats.

Elderly people needed regular contact with professional wardens who could look after their needs, said Cr Peter Blaxall at a meeting of the City Council’s housing and property committee yesterday. A pilot scheme should be started, he said. Some pensioners were so out of touch, even with neighbours, that they were in the early stages of withdrawal. A warden system would give them a sense of security. But the acting chairman of the committee (Cr Rex Arbuckle) said that many

Eensioners seemed “quite appy to paddle their own canoes” without personal visits from council officers.

The Aged Peoples’ Welfare Council had given the impression that council tenants were well looked after and already received considerable attention.

Cr Blaxall agreed that elderly people living on their own, outside housing estates, were probably more in need of regular visits. That was no excuse for the council not to try its own programme, he said. Cr Bruce Britten said that many people preferred to be left alone. “They don’t want to be regulated, with people knocking on their doors," he said. ■ -