Planners Want End To Expansion To Care Home

Planners have warned there must be an end to the development allowed at a nursing home between Portsoy and Cullen. Aberdeenshire Council officers claim the planning service cannot support the “continued sprawl” of the Lythe Nursing Home, near Lintmill, Cullen.

They say backing should not be given to ongoing development of a complex which is not located in a settlement or accessible to local services and public transport.

Planner James Welsh said: “What started out as a small nursing home has now developed into a fairly large complex on a visually sensitive site.

“There must be an end to what can reasonably be permitted on this site. The existing development is visually obtrusive on the hillside and occupies a prominent site.”

The home has lodged a planning application for seven sheltered houses, which planners are recommending should be turned down.

Home operator Ian Currie says the sheltered accommodation will provide “an excellent and much-needed facility” for a wide range of users not in need of the care home.

But Mr Welsh said the plan did not comply with council policy for housing in the countryside.

The houses were not for use by full-time workers, nor did they form an addition to an existing group of at least five houses.

The scheme also failed to meet special-needs housing policy, which calls for sheltered housing to be in settlements.

Mr Welsh said the houses were not designed specifically for special-needs groups and it was difficult to judge how appropriate they would be to meet special needs.

He added: “The development is on a visually sensitive site in the countryside with no close links to existing public transport.

“The site cannot be considered suitable for sheltered housing as it is in a relatively secluded location with no public transport links.” He said the scheme would affect the character of the landscape and continue development along the hillside from the nursing home.

Mr Currie said that, while the properties would be primarily for elderly people, they might ultimately be part-used for the care of a wider age group.

“They could be used for elderly couples who don’t yet need the facilities of the care home, but who still want the independence of their own home.”

There could also be elderly couples, one of whom needed to be in the care home while the partner wanted to live independently, close by.

“We already have some couples expressing much interest in this part of the new proposed facility,” he said.

Mr Currie said out that, if the home had had to comply with all current Aberdeenshire policies, it would not be there.

Banff and Buchan councillors have deferred a decision on the planning application until after a site visit.