Consultation launched into future of Norwood's Ravenswood Village

Planning permission to modernise the 70-year-old facility for people with learning disabilities was denied last year

A consultation is being launched into the future of Norwood’s Ravenswood Village amid “significant and increasing operating losses”.

The site supports 96 adults with learning disabilities or autism and represents a “dated model of care” no longer being commissioned by local councils, said the charity.

Today it has opened a consultation into the future of the rural Berkshire site, citing a diminishing number of residents and running costs of £13m a year.

Norwood had originally planned to redevelop the site, which needs “substantial capital investment,” but planning permission was refused in May last year.

The consultation is expected to take three months before a decision is made in the autumn.

“We know that any decision made about the future of Ravenswood will be of critical importance not only to the families we support but to the whole community,” said Neville Kahn, chair of Norwood’s trustee board.

“This is why it is so important we hear the views, priorities and suggestions of all those involved with the Village before determining the future direction of any services we provide.”

The charity’s CEO, Dr Beverley Jacobson, added: “Recent decades have seen extensive changes in the way in which people with learning disabilities and/or autism are supported to live a fulfilling life.

“National guidance now emphasises the importance of individual choice and independence for everyone, including the need for services to be located in areas where people can easily participate in the community.”

Ravenswood Village was first set up in 1953.