YOUR opinion column (EA May 10) suggested the White House Hotel "was never the wisest choice Wiltshire Probation Service could have made as a site for its planned bail hostel."
I would like to point out that Wiltshire Probation chose the White House after a comprehensive survey of available and suitable sites in the Swindon area. The selection of the site as a potential hostel was measured against strict Government criteria and the White House matched all of these.
The article goes on to suggest that Wiltshire Probation should not have gone public over the plans before "the owner had agreed to sell."
Wiltshire Probation made every effort to to involve the public in our plans for a hostel on the site as soon as it was responsible to do so.
Publications, exhibitions and discussions were only started once the vendor had agreed to sell the site. The final price was agreed via the vendor's agents in January and the vendor's own solicitors drafted the contract in February. This gave us sufficient confidence to announce our plans.
Why the vendor in the end decided not to sell we still do not really know. She chose not to inform us in the normal way. Your article was the first we knew of her change of heart.
We are committed to opening a hostel in Swindon and will now continue our search for an alternative site.
DIANA FULBROOK
Chief Officer
Wiltshire Probation Area
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