Residents at Ferfadd Court in the town's Bridge Street, and at 11 other complexes owned by Argyll Community Housing Association (ACHA), are to be consulted on plans which would see staff numbers almost halved, wardens on site for only four hours a day - with no overnight presence - and charges introduced for communal services.

The programme of cuts has been forced on ACHA by the withdrawal in March of a government grant of £274,000 which had been used to pay for sheltered housing wardens.

ACHA's board of management agreed this week on a set of recommendations to be put to sheltered housing tenants and staff during July, with a final set of proposals likely to be settled upon by the middle of August.

The recommendations are as follows:

* No withdrawal of the sheltered housing warden service;

* No redundancy programme for sheltered housing staff;

* A 're-engineering' (ACHA's words) of the service over three years;

* A 're-structuring' (again, ACHA's words) of the service which would see complexes twinned where possible and staff numbers reduced to from 11 full-time and 11 part-time workers to six full-time and six part-time posts through natural wastage and redeployment;

* A core warden service to each complex of four hours' on-site support each day, compared to 18 at Ferfadd Court at present, without an overnight presence;

* Maintenance of the existing Hanover Telecare support system, when residents can contact an Edinburgh call centre, outwith those core hours;

* Where twinning is not possible, the current warden service will be used to "support the provision of mainstream housing and neighbourhood services";

* Efficiency gains to be sought in the use of communal heating and laundry services;

* The introduction, on a phased basis, of charges for the provision of communal services, with a view to support being provided where possible by housing benefit;

* The association to work with Argyll and Bute Council on its review of elderly services, due to be completed in December this year, which may result in ACHA being able to provide sheltered housing spaces for clients referred by the council and being paid for doing so.

Ferfadd Court resident Margaret Currie told The Buteman: "We all got a letter on Monday telling us about this but it sounds as if you've got more information than we do.

"It's not really satisfactory, is it? But I'm not holding my breath. Having a warden service at night is definitely beneficial, but it looks like they're going to get rid of it - and the residents won't like it.

"We came here because of the security of the warden service - you really need that as you get older, as the ACHA people will find out themselves one day.

"The wardens provide a wonderful service and I think it would be a false economy to get rid of them."

On the question of an overnight warden presence, ACHA chief executive Alastair MacGregor told us: "The number of overnight calls we actually get is very, very small - without being pedantic about it, when people are asleep they're asleep, they're not engaging with the warden.

"The board felt it was a key issue to have a warden on site for four hours during the day, when tenants are up and about, to provide advice and information and someone to talk to."

We also asked why, if the wardens were not being made redundant, they couldn't simply be kept on at the sheltered housing complexes, rather than being redeployed elsewhere.

"As things are at present," Mr MacGregor replied, "other ACHA tenants not in sheltered housing are effectively subsidising the warden service - we are simply saying that we have to ensure that those other tenants get more back for their money.

"There is a wider observation to be made here, and it is that the issues currently facing Argyll and Bute will happen to others in the future.

"There is a real danger of a postcode lottery in support for the elderly, and someone is going to have to take a look at that and say 'is that what was really intended here?'."

On hearing news from The Buteman of ACHA's plans, island councillor Robert Macintyre said: "These outrageous proposals effectively mean you cannot call this 'sheltered housing' any more - they will only increase anxiety among the elderly residents of Ferfadd Court."

Consultation with ACHA's sheltered housing staff begins today (Friday), with discussions with tenants to follow later in the month. The association is aiming to finalise its recommendations by Thursday, August 14.