Homeless hostel could be made into an elderly care home

A CONTROVERSIAL homeless hostel could be replaced by a care home for the elderly. Just two months after the Mount Royale Hotel closed down, plans are being developed to demolish it and create two care homes on the site.

Residents had long complained about the Linwood hotel attracting antisocial behaviour to the area.

Renfrewshire Council, along with other local authorities, had used the building on Moss Road, as emergency accommodation for homeless people.

It was finally closed down and boarded up at the end of January after years of objections by fed-up locals.

Now care home company Pacific Care has notified Renfrewshire Council that it plans to carry out a consultation on the future of the building.

They hope to demolish the former hotel and build two linked care homes. One would be a two-storey building with 83 beds and the other a single storey, 30-bed home.

Public access would be from Moss Road, service access from Brediland Road and external works and landscaping would be carried out on the site.

In its notification, Pacific Care told council planners they intend to approach the community council prior to an application for planning permission. They would also carry out an exhibition with drawings and descriptions of their plans.

Almost six years ago the Paisley Daily Express revealed hundreds of furious residents battled to halt plans to extend the hotel.

Despite a huge level of opposition to the plans, the council gave hotel bosses the green light to make the changes.