New plan submitted for demolition of ‘redundant’ Scarborough care home and construction of new facility

The application, by Mark Kelly, proposes the demolition of the former Briar Dene Care Home at 73 Burniston Road, which relocated to new purpose-built premises in 2020.

Last year Mr Kelly submitted a plan for the demolition of the former care home and the construction of a three-storey residential building in its place but council documents show that the scheme, which attracted opposition from locals, was withdrawn in March 2023.

Plans indicate that the newly proposed nursing home would also be three storeys high and that the “overall siting and building mass would be very similar to the existing building”.

The proposed nursing home will provide 35 rooms including en suite bathrooms and is set to create an additional 45 jobs, according to the Briar Dene Residential Care Home.

However, the existing two-bedroom detached bungalow will not be demolished and will be utilised as the manager’s accommodation.

According to the applicant, Scarborough has received negative attention as a result of a “shortfall in social care capacity with the resulting strain on the hospital the crux of the much publicised ‘bed-blocking’ problem”.

The care home stated that there is an “urgent requirement in the locality for additional social care capacity”.

The scheme has also received the support of North Yorkshire Council’s health and adult services department, which said in June that the proposal “will increase local capacity and have the potential to improve hospital discharge and flow as well as providing permanent placements”.

The old care home, which provided residential healthcare for the elderly for over 30 years, is not fit for repurposing as “modern care and nursing homes need wider corridors, level access, larger rooms and bathrooms and in-house social and health facilities”.

Following pre-application meetings with planning officers, the location was described as providing “an opportunity to respond to the seaside nature of this resort town” with the design set to “attempt to echo the well-known North Bay chalet designs”.

The scheme is currently pending consideration with the planning authority which has not made recommendations on the application.