APPLAUSE and tears – two very different reactions to the same piece of news.

Proposals to redevelop Longue Rue House and Maison Maritaine drew praise and plaudits from residents of the two homes when they were given a special briefing on the £35m. plans last week.

However, it seems that some elderly residents of the States housing next door to the Vale homehad a very different response.

For many of them the plans mean disruption and uncertainty at the very worst time. Having settled into the States houses with all their possessions, sometimes after a bereavement, it is entirely understandable that they should be shocked to the point of tears at the thought of moving.

Which is not to say that Housing is wrong to want to redevelop the two homes.

The plans to give elderly residents as much independence as possible have a lot to commend them.

An elderly person does not lose the natural human desire for a decent space they can call their own and pride in their ability to look after themselves.

Which, ironically, is exactly the problem facing the States house tenants. They may not own their flats and houses but they rightly consider them to be home. Here, in the most dramatic way, that space has been invaded.

Being uprooted, asked to pack their belongings and seeing their former home redeveloped is not something anyone would relish, let alone 80- and 90-year-olds.

Housing argues that it has no choice. The plans are for the good of not only the 99 residents and 100-plus staff of the two homes but generations to come.

What it must ensure then is that everything possible is done to reassure the tenants, particularly the elderly and infirm, that they will be helped all along the way. Not all the tenants will have families who can help out and residents will require constant long-term support and advice.

It is an extra burden for the department but it is one it must accept as part of the overall development.