[Hilary Armstrong]

We had a similar request. Our almshouses are in the centre of town so any changes to the front are very sensitive. I asked our local conservation officer who said we’d need to put in a Listed Building Consent but that they would agree as long as the rails were in keeping with the rest of the building. That would mean black metal railings rather than the white plastic that the occupational health wanted to install.
In the end, we agreed a rail inside the back door and the resident was advised by OH to use this (of course she’s still going in and out the front without the rail).
But this also prompted us to review our independent living policy because the building really isn’t suitable for anyone not too stable on their feet and we thought it might be the begin of request for more support than our ‘independent living’ is able to provide.

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