Many readers will be aware of the debate on the future of Elleray Hall - a social lifeline for many of Teddington's older people.

Briefly, the council proposes to build a new centre on the small North Lane car park and fund this via an affordable housing development on the site of the existing hall.

The Elleray Community Association trustees favour this plan which provides everything our members need.

It is the result of over 15 years of discussion about a replacement for the current dilapidated building which is something of an eyesore, is incredibly expensive to heat and maintain and can no longer provide the facilities that members need.

Rebuilding the Centre on the current site would pose huge problems – it would be difficult and expensive to secure suitable temporary accommodation with the necessary access, facilities and storage while a rebuild takes place.

We could even have to operate out of multiple sites, creating many practical problems.

Remember, our members have just endured a very difficult and lonely year; we have been closed for months on end and many have also been shielding.

They really do not deserve another 18 months of confusion, delay and disruption. We want to see this plan move forward.

A widely circulated leaflet has been encouraging people to sign an online petition objecting to the council's proposal.

Of course, everyone is entitled to raise objections, but the leaflet contains a number of false and misleading statements.

These are not all repeated in the text accompanying the online petition, but many people will have simply signed the petition on the basis of the highly questionable text in the leaflet. They may even have thought that we agreed with the petition!

For instance, the leaflet claims we will lose our garden and car park. This is untrue. The new plan includes both garden and parking space for our accessible minibus, cars and a car club vehicle.

The leaflet also states that the North Lane site is unsafe for pedestrians and children. This is contrived nonsense. Were we concerned about the site's safety we would have been the first to raise objections!

Many of our members already use this road to get to KC Pharmacy and Tesco and in any case, the site can easily be accessed from the top of Elleray Road – its entrance is barely 100 yards from the entrance to the current hall.

We will make no comment on the housing development as this has nothing to do with us.

So in conclusion, the trustees of Elleray Community Association are in favour of the proposal for the new centre.

It will be good for our members, the community and the high street, will further enhance the local area and will become one more reason why Teddington is such a great place to live.

A video giving details of our services and our reactions to the new plan can be seen HERE .

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