Scarborough Council defers decision on 100-bed care home in East Ayton due to ‘fundamental’ concerns

Scarborough Council’s Planning and Development Committee has deferred its decision to allow the construction of a 100-bed care home and nine residential dwellings on the site.

According to a plan submitted by Mr Wylie, the site at Racecourse Road in East Ayton would be made up of two separate elements: the nine detached houses occupying the northern end closest to Racecourse Road, and the 100-bedroom care home on the southern part of the site.

The project was recommended for approval by the planning authority and no objections were raised by Yorkshire Water, the Highway Authority, or the NHS clinical commissioning group.

However, more than a dozen members of the public said they opposed the plan, and members of the East Ayton Parish Council attended the planning meeting on Thursday, January 17 to object to the plans.

Robert Peacock, a member of the East Ayton parish council, stated that while comments about the appearance of the buildings had been recognised, the “most serious points on the impact on transport systems and policy around sustainable transport, walking and cycling and impact on junctions have been ignored”.

Mr Peacock also questioned the impact of the plan on existing care homes in Scarborough, which he said were “having to look overseas to the other side of the world” to recruit staff.

He added: “Finding 80 plus staff to run such a care home if built, is highly questionable, as is what on earth could such a building be used for, should it fail”.

Representing the developer, Paul Sedgwick, spoke in favour of the proposal.

He said: “There are concerns within the representations that there are a lot of old people in the village and that this will exacerbate it without contributing to the facilities in the village.

“This is a care home that is going to provide care facilities to people within the village. There is no conflict with care at home which is desirable and preferable, but some people deteriorate and cannot reasonably be cared for at home.

“This development will provide specialist care for them and they can deal with quite severe cases.”

In a discussion that lasted more than an hour, councillors debated the concerns that had been raised and whether deferral of the plan would lead the applicant to make changes to the scheme which had already been recommended for approval by the planning authority.

Most notably, concerns were raised with regard to a perceived lack of transport links and the development’s impact on the environment and local scenery.

Arguments in favour of approving the plan were also made by councillors who cited a lack of care facilities as a reason for discharge backlogs in hospitals.

However, officers noted that the authority did not have the power to enforce many of the changes that were sought, but stated that they would seek greater clarity from the developer if councillors voted in favour of deferral.

In calling for a deferral, committee members cited a representation made by parish councillor Derek Rowell.

The representation stated that a consultation should be undertaken with Social Services because “uninformed decisions could put the life chances of older people in the community at risk”.

Councillors also highlighted a “need for homes for independent living” as well as concerns about the paperwork and application that was submitted to the authority.

Deferral of the decision until the next planning committee meeting, scheduled for February 9, was approved with eight votes in favour and five votes against.