A PUBLIC meeting is being held at Cedars School in Hazlemere on Friday where people will be able to see plans to develop the site with a new surgery and community facilities.

District and parish councillor Les Taylor, who wants community facilities, rather than the old people's home proposed by Buckinghamshire County Council for the site, has organised the meeting, for 8pm.

The county council wants to move people living in Katharine Knapp old people's home in Tylers Green into a new building on the Cedars site in Cedar Avenue, Hazlemere.

Katharine Knapp could be redeveloped with up-market flats, plus homes in the grounds.

The council is handing over all its five remaining old people's residential homes to a charity, Heritage Care, to run on its behalf.

It is getting rid of the homes because they all need rebuilding to comply with legislation, which says rooms in residential homes have to be certain size and have en-suite bathrooms by April 2002.

If the county council did the rebuilding it would cost the taxpayer £12.5 million. But this way Heritage Care does it and enters into a 30 year contract with the council to look after council clients. The county council reckons it will save £10 million.