Care Home Sites Confirmed

The Highland Council is to seek outline planning permission for sites which will house five new care homes for older people.

Following consultation with interested community groups, the Housing and Social Work Committee has agreed to replace: -

• Invernevis House, Fort William with a new home at a site known as the BMX track at Caol;
• Grant House, Grantown, with a new home adjacent to the existing home;
• Ach-an-Eas and Burnside, Inverness, with a new home at Burnside;
• Urray House, Muir of Ord, with a new home on a site beside the existing site;
• Duthac House, Tain, with a new building at Craighill Terrace, Tain, with a fall back site at Chapel Street being considered if planning consent is not granted at Craighill Terrace.

The Council decided last year to fund the new homes, rather than involve the independent/private sector. 

Councillor Margaret Davidson, Chairman of the Housing and Social Work Committee, welcomed the progress on the site identification. She said the new centres would incorporate residential and nursing care and in some cases, day care and the design would be flexible enough to accommodate future extension.

Officials would also be looking at future uses of the homes to be replaced, such as Ach an Eas, Invernevis House and Duthac House.

She said: “I would like to thank the public for their comments during the consultation period and we will now proceed to seek outline planning permission for these sites. Officials will come back to our next meeting in August with a timescale for taking these projects forward.”