EPH – York commentary archive site

Acomb residents invited to Oakhaven redevelopment event

Oakhaven

Residents and businesses in the Acomb Road area of the city are being invited to find out more about the short and long term plans for the redevelopment of the former Oakhaven Older People’s Home next week (Tuesday 28 June).

The Councils plans for the Lowfields school site are expected to be published tomorrow

The council’s longer term plans for the site will see the creation of a new Extra Care facility for older people in the Acomb area: part of the authority’s Older People’s Accommodation Project which aims to secure high quality accommodation to meet the needs of York’s ageing population.

If approved, the flexible accommodation will enable residents, including those with complex care needs such as dementia, to live independently in their own homes on the site, with on-site personal care available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, should they need it.

The authority will shortly begin the process to find a partner to develop the facility at Oakhaven and in 2017 will seek planning consent for the new building.

In the immediate short term, the council is proposing to use the building as accommodation for up to 15 local families and individuals who need temporary accommodation. The facility will be managed by on-site staff seven days a week and the proposals will be subject to planning consent.

Local residents are being invited to attend the drop-in event next Tuesday (21 June) at Oakhaven between 4-7pm to find out more about the short and long term plans for the site.

Visit www.york.gov.uk/OPAplans for more information.

The minutes of a private briefing session for senior Labour Councillors (James Alexander and Tracey Simpson Laing) confirm that they knew in April 2013 that the Care Village project at Lowfields was doomed.

click to enlarge

Cllr Simpson Laing told officers that the Lowfields site could sell (for housing) for more than valuers had estimated.

Cllr Alexander’s solution was to borrow more but the note says

“borrowing ££ from Economic Infrastructure Fund/new homes bonus (?) to plug gaps – I struggled to follow and got lost!”

Councillors seemed keen to deflect criticism onto the Joseph Rowntree Foundation for the projects escalating costs.

The information has come to light via the Council’s new “open data” web site.

A large amount of information has been published there in response to Freedom of Information requests on the failed £1 million project.

All the background documents can be found by clicking here