Central Hill dementia day centre faces closure as Lambeth seeks £450k savings and eyes £2.5m site sale
Lambeth Council is planning to close a dementia day centre on the Central Hill Estate and move services to another site across the borough, as part of plans to save …
Black News 
Lambeth Council is planning to close a dementia day centre on the Central Hill Estate and move services to another site across the borough, as part of plans to save £450,000 a year.
A new council decision report proposes merging the Central Hill day service with Aspire Wellbeing in West Norwood, creating a single day centre for adults with dementia and other support needs.
The move forms part of Lambeth’s wider savings programme to close a growing gap in its finances. The report says the change would generate “recurrent annual savings of approximately £450,000” from 2026/27 by reducing staffing, transport and premises costs.
But behind the language of “integration” and “transformation”, the proposal effectively means the closure of the Central Hill dementia day centre at 1 Lunham Road, with the site expected to be declared “surplus to requirements” and potentially sold.
Council officers estimate the property could raise be£2.5 million if sold or redeveloped.
The council says the changes will create a “single offer” based at Aspire Wellbeing’s premises at 1 Park Hall Road in West Norwood, where services for both groups of users would be delivered in future.
For residents currently using Central Hill, the change will mean travelling to the new location instead. They are 1.5 miles apart, meaning a journey of around 10 minutes by car or 25–30 minutes by bus across Norwood.
The decision follows months of controversy over the future of the Central Hill service. As previously reported by Brixton Buzz, campaigners have accused the council of running down the service before proposing closure and job losses, with warnings that up to 10 staff could face redundancy.
The council report itself acknowledges that staff working at Central Hill are likely to be affected, with a formal consultation process due to take place following the decision.
The financial pressures behind the proposal are stark. Lambeth faces an estimated £84.4 million budget gap with almost £50 million of savings required in the next financial year alone.
Central Hill currently provides day support for older residents living with dementia, but attendance has fallen. The report says the service now sees an average of just 7.6 people per day, compared with pre-pandemic levels that were significantly higher.
The council argues that merging the service with Aspire Wellbeing will create a “sustainable specialist day service.”
Yet critics say the proposal amounts to cuts to local services dressed up in bureaucratic language.
The report repeatedly refers to “integration”, “efficiencies” and “sustainability”, but the practical effect is the closure of one site, job losses among staff and the sale of a council-owned property to help shore up the authority’s finances.
For the residents and families who rely on the service, the change will mean a longer journey to access day care, while for staff at Central Hill the decision could mean the loss of their jobs.
