Residents at Ferfadd Court in the town's Bridge Street have asked Bute's three councillors to attend a meeting at the complex next week as they try to find out just what kind of support the public purse is still prepared to give them.
That meetin
g will take place against a backdrop of growing concern from Rothesay's police officers that they are increasingly being used to provide sheltered housing security cover as a matter of course - a situation the island's police chief has described as "unacceptable".
The Ferfadd Court tenants have also invited the emergency services, local members of the clergy and The Buteman to attend their meeting at the complex next Monday, April 14, at 7.30pm.
We reported last week that the warden service at the ACHA-owned complex was on the verge of being withdrawn because of cuts to the Supporting People money provided to Argyll and Bute Council, which funded the service.
A source at Ferfadd Court told us this week: "We just want to find out exactly what is going on - the tenants are all in the dark. It seems this is a Scotland-wide situation, not just something in Argyll and Bute.
"Anyone who has an interest in maintaining the warden service is welcome to come along to the meeting."
Local police have told us this week of four more occasions when officers have been called to sheltered housing in the town to give assistance to elderly people in distress.
Officers were called to Ferfadd Court at around 9pm on March 31 and April 3, to Foley Court on March 30 and to a house in Port Bannatyne last Friday; in all four cases, help alarms were activated, and the police were called because no warden was available.
Inspector Macdonald Stephen of Strathclyde Police in Rothesay said: "The police service was not consulted at any time prior to our being used on an almost daily basis as an out of hours cover service.
"The ambulance service and fire service, as well as ourselves, want to get something resolved, because the present situation is simply unacceptable.
"At present an elderly person who needs some assistance or support can activate one of various different alarm systems, and it is two 'burly polis' who arrive at their door to help.
"That can involve a great deal of stress for the older and more vulnerable members of our community.
"I have been working with various partner agencies in an attempt to resolve the situation, but we still seem to be no better off."
The full article contains 470 words and appears in The Buteman newspaper.
