Council backing £9.3m care plan for Carnoustie

A significant step forward has been taken towards delivery of a £9.3 million blueprint for older people’s care provision in Carnoustie (writes Graham Brown).

In a project which would see the replacement of the town’s Camus House, as well as the creation of almost 30 supported or affordable homes for rent, Angus Council has taken the decision to move to a detailed design brief and budget costing for a project centred on the site of the town’s former Kinloch Primary School.

The scheme follows the outcome of a best-value review of services for Angus senior citizens, but, whilst the Carnoustie concept has been welcomed locally, the plan has been criticised as being a “piecemeal” approach towards taking care of all of the district’s elderly.

Angus social work and finance chiefs admit the authority will be facing tough financial decisions in future years as it attempts to deliver a range of recommendations contained within the best value review across the county.

However, in a report to a full meeting of Angus Council, social work director Dr Robert Peat said it was clear Camus House was “no longer fit for purpose and requires to be replaced to meet current care standards”.

The draft development plan approved by councillors includes an eight-bed high dependency residential care unit to replace the current Camus House facility.

In addition, there will be an eight-bed residential respite unit and a 12-place day-care centre to replace the existing eight-place Camus House provision.

The housing element of the project comprises 25 two-bedroom and three one-bedroom tenancies for rent, replacing the current 14-bed mainstream residential unit at Camus House.

Officials hope the final brief for the scheme will be placed before councillors early next year, with a start date on site in June 2011 for the two-year build.

“I believe the proposals are very much to be welcomed in terms of the council’s intention to provide for Carnoustie a new care centre to replace Camus House that would meet the needs of the community for the 21st century,” said local Alliance councillor Peter Murphy.

“It would also set the standard for the future of supported housing development in Angus,” he added.

Glennis Middleton, Forfar SNP councillor and former social work convener, said, “While I am delighted Camus House is being brought forward, I think it is worth pointing out this has been plucked out of the older people’s services review.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen in the future and it is quite dangerous to do something piecemeal without knowing the bigger picture first because we have a duty to deliver an equitable service across the whole of Angus to all of its residents.

“In this difficult economic climate, I have real concerns over a piecemeal programme.”