AVON and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership has come under fire this week for not consulting with councillors after it was announced they would be closing a mental health support centre in Trowbridge in the New Year.

Red Gables in Hilperton Road is due to close its doors in January, with the land now being listed for sale by AWP for an undisclosed amount.

The centre, which has been open for more than 10 years, currently acts as the base for mental health services in west Wiltshire but under the new plans, this will relocate to Shearwater Lodge in Warminster.

Cllr Jeff Osborn brought up the topic at the health select committee due to the lack of consultation with Wiltshire Council members and as a result, senior officers are due to contact AWP regarding the closure.

He said: “As local members we should know what is going on and we should be made aware of these things.

“As I understand many people go to Red Gables so the question that has to be asked, if they won’t be able to go there, where is the alternative?

“We knew Charter House would be going but for both there was never a timescale. We thought we would get due notice about a consultation.

"It was lo and behold that Terry Chivers had a conversation with someone who said that Red Gables would be closing in January.

“They haven’t been through the due process and we haven’t heard about alternative arrangements.”

Charter House on Seymour Road is also believed to be closing its doors.

The AWP have said from the end of January, the new model will see care coordinators take on face-to-face work in the area in order to continue to deliver their services.

These care coordinators will be based at a number of hubs including the Bradford on Avon health centre but there is yet to be a centre identified in Trowbridge.

A spokesman for the Trust said: “Red Gables is not a purpose built clinical unit and so is no longer suitable for us to operate services out of.

"Its closure will allow us to deliver a more localised, community based range of services across west Wiltshire, with increased in-person contact with service users.

"We will work more closely with primary health and social care units in order to support people. Our care coordinators will communicate any small changes which may affect individual service users, although we have worked hard to ensure a continuity of services and support. Management and administration will continue from bases in Devizes and Warminster.”