Three care home plans get go-ahead in Highlands

Three care homes for the elderly were yesterday given the go-ahead by Highland planners – but uncertainty still surrounds their future.

Cheshire-based Apollo Capital Projects Ltd, which already had outline approval, plans to build a 60-bed home near Fort William Health Centre at Camaghael on the outskirts of the Lochaber capital.

An application by Highland Council’s social services department was also given the green light for a 32-bedroom care home near Urray House on the Great North Road at Muir of Ord.

And the department’s second application for a 30-bed home at Ardgour Road, Caol, was also given the blessing of Ross, Skye and Lochaber area planning committee at its meeting at Fort William.

But, whether all three projects come to fruition remains in the melting pot.

The two council projects are among five care homes planned for the Highlands that have been put on hold by councillors because of a cash crisis.

Apollo wants to upgrade its proposed development at Blar Mhor to a 90-bed home, for which approval has been withheld by the council.

It has resulted in the company lodging an appeal with Holyrood’s planning directorate which will be heard at a three-day public inquiry starting at Fort William on March 24.

The committee agreed yesterday to grant conditional approval for the design and layout of the proposed two-storey, T-shaped home at Muir of Ord, which already has outline consent and the approval of Scottish ministers. It includes a single-storey biomass boiler and solar panels, which will provide heat and lighting, extensive landscaping and parking for 20 cars.

The home will be accessed from a new entrance at Tarradale Gardens with the existing Urray House being demolished on completion of the new building.

Officials had recommended approval despite acknowledging that the scale and massing of the development is at odds with the surrounding buildings and does not reflect the area’s residential character. The Ardgour Road facility, to be built on a former BMX track, will comprise a 30-bed single-storey building with provision for up to 15 day-care people. It will replace the existing facilities at Nevis House.

The Apollo project attracted opposition from council social work bosses, who complained it was too big and failed to comply with the authority’s policy of shifting dependence on care homes to residents’ own homes.

They warned that it could also attract people from outside the area, placing additional demands on community health services. Its scale and design also offered no scope to consider the care of other client groups.

The council projects were welcomed by Fort William councillor Donald Cameron but he emphasised the need for additional car parking and landscaping.