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17 Bayhead St

Stornoway, Lewis

 

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Stornoway’s fire-wrecked Royal Mail sorting office could be demolished to make way for a homeless hostel, it is understood.

 

The Comhairle is said to be looking at the possibility of constructing a 20-bed roomed temporary accommodation unit on the site, adjacent to its headquarters on Lewis.

 

The mail office on Sandwick Road has not been used since it was gutted in a blaze in 2007.

 

The Royal Mail have ditched plans to move back in as it has taken over other premises nearby.

 

It is converting a builders’ merchant store on Rigs Road and will continue to operate out of temporary base until the new office is finished in a few months.

 

The council is understood to be interested in buying the damaged sorting office and erecting an accommodation unit on the site is understood to be an option which would resolve the huge opposition to building the hostel in residential areas.

 

The authority said it was investigating “further possible sites for consideration for the shared temporary accommodation unit, along with all those sites previously identified.”

 

Council officials’ conclusions on the options are expected to be revealed next month.

 

The hostel is urgently required to try and tackle the significant problem in the islands where over 200 people a year are officially homeless annually.

 

Many are put up in Bed and Breakfast accommodation, if it is available, because of the lack of an accommodation unit.

 

The perception that people who have lost their home all cause trouble and have alcohol, drug and anti-social issues seems to be behind the strong opposition to building the unit in Olivers Brae or Marybank.

 

Despite acknowledging the need for the hostel, residents in these areas are against building it in their neighbourhood.

 

Western Isles Council data shows that half the cases are caused by relationship breakdown within families.

 

There is an increase in women, some who are pregnant, finding themselves without a roof over their heads.

 

Others have lost their home because of financial problems or having lost their job and can’t afford their mortgage or rent.

 

 

 

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Mail office option for homeless hostel                6/1/11