THE site of the old St. George's parish rest home is unsuitable for housing seniors because it overlooks a graveyard, according to Government Senate Leader David Burch - but his political opponent Kim Swan disagrees.

Opposition Senator Swan said Sen. Burch's comment in the Senate on Wednesday was a "red herring" and did not explain what the Government planned to do with the disused property, which was closed down two years ago because of its poor condition.

And he added that the hilltop rest home site had an area of land which was fit for development.

Sen. Swan also demanded answers from the Government on plans for the policing of St. George's, with the Old Town's police station set to undergo renovations and the tourist high season looming.

"My main concern is the future status of the building," said Sen. Swan. "The property has a graveyard on one side of it and the Government was trying to say that it could not house seniors in such a place.

"But the view that the residents used to enjoy overlooked the golf course, Club Med and the town of St. George, quite a complementary view and part of the beauty that many of them had enjoyed throughout their lives. The property does include an area of land with tremendous development potential, from where the graveyard is out of visibility. For the Government to say what they did about the graveyard was a red herring they have thrown up."

The site was left as a home for the needy in the will of a benefactor several decades ago. Sen. Swan suspected that the Government intended to leave it dormant for enough time to be able to change its use.

"It's very sad that someone saw fit to leave it for the expressed use as a rest home, but it is not being used for that purpose.

"If the Government has some other plans for the property, they should say what they are. Two years should have been plenty of time for them to have renovated that building or to be well on the way to providing a replacement, but we have heard nothing."

St. George's Parish Council and the Department of Health & Family Services are responsible for the building.

Sen. Swan also expressed concern at policing plans for the Old Town, which has been plagued by crime problems in recent months.

Premier Jennifer Smith and Police Commissioner Jonathan Smith released a joint statement two weeks ago to clarify that the existing station would be renovated and kept as a sub-station, with the Eastern Divisional Headquarters to be sited at Southside, St. David's.

"It was a broad-brush statement and we need more specifics," said Sen. Swan, who raised 1,467 names for a petition which helped to force the Government into an apparent U-turn on its previously stated plans to close the station.

"The tourist season is here and we need to know a start date for the renovations and what is going to happen in the interim.

"We need to know more specifics on what they mean by a sub-station, in terms of manpower and how many hours there will be police there. Will we have officers there for 24 hours or not?

"If people are going to buy into this, they need to be told what's going to happen and it's for the Government to do that."

Whether or not the crime problem in the Old Town was subsiding, Sen. Swan people had become more aware of the threat.

"The awareness level in the community has definitely been raised and that's a big plus," said Sen. Swan. "Public awareness is an integral part of community policing.

"There's a feeling that we're all in this together and that spirit is something we need to continue."