The opening of a Dundee mental health crisis centre has been delayed for a fourth time due to road closures following the Robertson’s furniture store fire.
The facility on South Ward Road was initially expected to open in 2021 but has been hit by multiple delays.
Work on the community wellbeing centre (CWC) was expected to be complete in December 2022, with the centre opening shortly after.
But due to road closures as a result of the fire at the nearby former Robertson’s furniture store, on Barrack Street in November, work at the facility is still not complete.
Opening date for Dundee crisis centre not known
A new opening date for the centre is still to be announced, but Dundee City Council says the building is to be fitted out for operation by the end of this month.
Plans for the mental health centre were first proposed in April 2021, following a lengthy campaign by activists.
But the opening was later delayed until March 2022, and again until August.
The council faced criticism after the facility was the delayed a third time – over a year later than planned.
Progress was made in October when charity Penumbra was appointed to provide support at the centre.
The charity offers a range of support services for people with mild to serious and enduring mental ill health across Scotland.
Once open, the centre will provide “immediate” help to anyone in need of mental health support and will provide accommodation for those needing “intensive support” for a short period.
The charity are currently recruiting staff for the Dundee centre.
🆕 We're building a team to run the new #Dundee wellbeing centre
Come join us👉🏾 https://t.co/SO9EQvhPSG
💜💗💚💛#PenumbraMentalHealth #YourJourneyYourWay pic.twitter.com/dwMh7SwlL5
— Penumbra Mental Health (@penumbra_scot) January 12, 2023
A Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership spokesperson said: “An update on the community wellbeing centre was given to a public meeting of the Integration Joint Board of the Dundee Health and Social Care Partnership in December.
“Members were advised that because of the exclusion zone following the fire at the former Robertson’s building and its demolition, completion of building work on the nearby centre was not able to be achieved by the end of December.
“Handover is now expected to take place later this month, when the building will then be fitted out for operation.
“An opening date for the community wellbeing centre will be announced in due course.”
Penumbra Senior Service Manager, Emma Wilson, said: “We were pleased to be asked to have a role in offering mental health support tailored to the needs of people across the city.
“Our focus will always be the wellbeing of every person we support, so it’s important that the building is fit for use from the very start.
“We share people’s frustration that unexpected events have impacted on the building work, but we’re continuing to work proactively with the partners in the stakeholder group in developing the centre to fruition.”
Conversation