Fears Over ‘Unsightly’ Care Home Set For School Grounds

A new care home is set to be created on the site of a former primary school, despite residents’ fears over traffic congestion and the building’s appearance.

Community leaders say drawings for the day centre and 60-bed care home in North Merchiston make it look more like an unattractive and institutional unit for “processing clients”.

And they are concerned that the centre does not have adequate car parking or facilities to treat people suffering from conditions such as dementia.

Health and council bosses plan to build the centre in the grounds of the former North Merchiston Primary School on Tay Street, which was gutted by fire five years ago. The scheme is part of a £20-million plan to provide four new care homes across the city in order to cope with a shortage of places.

Bridget Stevens, chairwoman of Merchiston Community Council, said: “There’s no doubt that having a care home there would be beneficial for people in the area, particularly as the current provision of similar homes is fairly low. However, we have a number of concerns over the building they want to put there.

“We have particular reservations over the scale, look and location of the proposed home, and are concerned that there will be inadequate parking facilities, which could lead to congestion.

“We have also had a social care expert look at the plans and we are concerned about the fact that there does not seem to be any provision for important treatments, such as a dementia wing, at the home. We would like to see these issues addressed before any work starts.”

In a letter to planners, the community council states: “We think the proposed building has an unattractive, institutional flavour, partly because of its size and partly because of its design.

“It looks more like an impersonally functional unit for processing clients than a home for mostly elderly people who are unable to spend their remaining days within their familiar surroundings.”

The council also said that an underground car park should be built to reduce any further parking problems in the already crowded surrounding streets.

Under the care-home scheme, four 60-bed homes were originally expected to be completed by the end of the year.

However, the council was forced to find a new city centre site after health board officials ruled out using land at Chalmers Street – which has since been sold to developers.

The other homes are currently being built at sites at Lochend, Craigmillar and the former Eastern General Hospital, and are all expected to be opened by the end of the year.

The city council’s health and social-care chief, Kingsley Thomas, said: “This is part of our long-term strategy to increase the number of publicly-run care home places in the city.

“We believe that the Tay Street development is going to be of real benefit to the local community, not just for the older people who live at the home but as a badly needed facility for older people in the day and in the evenings when we hope it can be used by the wider community.”

The plans have already won the backing of city planning chiefs, who said the day centre and care home would provide a “positive contribution” to the local area.

Councillors are expected to approve the plans at a meeting of the council’s development quality sub-committee next week.