Holyrood ministers asked into Lochaber care home row

Holyrood ministers have been asked to intervene in a row between Highland planners and a company that wants to increase the size of a proposed Lochaber care home.

Cheshire-based Kingsgate Developments already has planning consent for a 60-bed home for the elderly at Camaghael, Fort William.

It acquired the site from the Apollo Medical Group, which built the neighbouring £7million Fort William Health Centre, and which has planning approval for a 60-bed unit.

But Highland Council’s Ross, Skye and Lochaber area planning committee recently voted six to four to reject Kingsgate’s application to increase the number of beds to 90, despite a recommendation by officials to grant conditional approval.

The company has now appealed to the government ministers.

The proposed larger facility is less than a mile away from a site at Ardgour Road, Caol, where Highland Council has plans for a 32-bed mixed care and nursing home that would replace the existing 24-bed unit at Invernevis House, at Fort William.

Councillors threw out the proposal, claiming there had been inadequate consultation and flawed research which, it was suggested, had been “done on the back of an envelope”.

Opponents, led by Lochaber councillor Donald Cameron, claimed it would be the biggest such facility in the Highlands and, if approved, would place “unacceptable demands” on essential services and result in over-provision of care facilities, with more than 387 care beds available within an hour’s drive from Fort William.

Mr Cameron told colleagues that the application breached a number of council policies, adding: “Because of over-provision, the proposal may have an adverse effect on the economic and social developments within the community.”

Council social work officials said current policy was to reduce the number of admissions to care facilities by increasing care in the home. “The number of older, frailer people is expected to rise,” councillors were told. “Notwithstanding that, a 90-bedded home in Fort William far exceeds the area’s needs. That size of home risks being very institutional.”

The arguments were rejected by the company, which has now lodged an appeal in the hope of overturning the council decision. It says the development would represent a £6million investment in the Lochaber economy, creating up to 110 jobs. A group of doctors who have a practice in the health centre had also opposed the project, contending it would be grossly excessive in size, and would create an institution.