Plans submitted to turn former Inverness care home into retirement flats
An Inverness care home which closed after serious concerns were raised about the quality of care could take on a new lease of life as retirement flats.
A planning application has been submitted to create 17 ground-floor flats for over 55s at the former Cradlehall Care Home.
The former purpose-built 50-bed home, which offered residential, nursing and residential dementia care and care for young people with disabilities, closed in April after the Care Inspectorate - the Scottish Government’s regulatory body for the care industry - highlighted significant and serious concerns.
• Care Inspectorate identifies 'serious' concerns at Cradlehall Care Home in Inverness
• Cradlehall Care Home in Inverness may have to close
• Troubled Cradlehall Care Home in Inverness to close for refurbishment ahead of being sold
Cradlehall Care Home was acquired last year by St Philips Care which stepped in after the previous operators HC-One failed to find a buyer.
St Philips Care, which has its headquarters in Wolverhampton, decided to sell the home after concerns regarding the quality of care were highlighted following an inspection.
It reached an agreement with the Care Inspectorate to voluntarily cancel the service's registration with the Care Inspectorate,
At the time, it said it would close for a full refurbishment and would sell Cradlehall as a turnkey operation to a care provider with a strong local presence.
A planning application to convert the building into retirement flats has now been submitted to Highland Council on behalf of Sitepride, based in Wolverhampton.
The proposed scheme comprises 17 two-bedroom two-bathroom retirement flats located in the existing single storey white render building sited within 1.09ha of land,
All will have access to a private rear garden, with some also being provided with private front gardens.
The plans also include a caretaker flat in the small two-storey section over the central north wing.
A total of 30 parking spaces will be provided and vehicular access can be gained from Caulfield Road via Cradlehall Court.
It is the intention of the development to be rented out as age-defined housing for over 55s.
A supporting design statement says the building is no longer fit for purpose under the current Care Inspectorate standards.
It states: “The design proposals have been developed with design, quality and placemaking considerations at the forefront of the design process.
“We are confident that the submitted development proposals respond sensitively to the existing site context whilst providing a much needed aged-defined housing opportunity for Cradlehall, with a distinctive new retirement flats development that creates a positive contribution to the local context.”
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