Back to the drawing board as court rules Fulford care home planning permission invalid?

Plans to replace the Fordland’s care home with a new building – to be run by Octopus Healthcare – have been thrown into confusion after a judge ruled that the planning permission is invalid.

As the existing care home (now empty) had operated on the site for many years, the case revolved around whether the planning committee was correctly advised on the level of unmet demand for care beds in the area.

Officials say there is an estimated shortfall of 663 residential and extra care places for over 75’s by 2020 and a 1,490 shortfall by 2030.

Residents who opposed the new building felt that it was overbearing.

In is rather novel in York for objections to elderly persons accommodation to cause a row. Usually it is specialist student accommodation plans that raise peoples wrath.

The £10 million investment in the site would have provided 64 beds and created 64 full and part time jobs,

It is possible that the applicant may now simply reapply for permission with the correct care bed demand figures being reported to the committee.

However the planning opening date of mid 2019 now seems optimistic.

Residents to bid for unused buildings?

Crystal Palace pub and Fordland’s care home first to be considered in York

The York Council is to consider next week the first applications from community groups who want to be given the right to bid to buy what they regarded as community use buildings.

Fordlands EPH

Fordlands EPH

The buildings being considered are the Crystal Palace pub in Holgate and the Fordland’s Elderly Persons Home in Fulford.

Government legislation now requires Councils to maintain a list of “assets of community value”.

The purpose behind these provisions is to ensure that property (land and building) assets which are currently used to the benefit of the local communities are not disposed of without the local community being given a fair opportunity to bid for these assets when they are put on the open market. This right is not simply to accommodate ‘public assets’ but also private assets, the test is whether such assets are viewed as ‘assets of community value’.

These assets therefore could be currently owned by the public, private or voluntary sector.

The nomination for the Crystal Palace pub comes from the cooperative that took over its running a few months ago. Their application is supported by officials.

The Fordland’s application comes from the Fulford Parish Council who want to run the building as an interpretation centre. It is redundant under the Councils elderly person’s modernisation plans. Officials are recommending that the building is not added to the list.

Admission to the list means that the community group will be able to submit a bid for the properties as and when they come onto the market. There is no guarantee that their bid will be the highest or that t would be accepted by the owners..

Some building owners have criticised the scheme as it potentially could delay, by up to 6 months, regeneration schemes .