Councillors to visit site of luxury Prestwick care home after concerns raised

Councillors will visit the site of a proposed luxury 60-bedroom Prestwick care home to be built beside a golf course.

A total of 52 objections were submitted to South Ayrshire Council planners over the plans to build the care home on land formerly owner by Prestwick St Cuthbert Golf club at Fairway View.

The vast majority are concerned about road safety caused by additional traffic, the suitability of the roads being used to access the premises and fears that difficulties parking will be exacerbated.

The site is allocated for housing under the council's own development plan, and the initial proposals included 22 assisted living units.

However, the applicant removed that element and opted to include a café in the proposals.

This led to objectors arguing that vital housing space would be lost, at a time when there were 1,000 people on a waiting list for a house in the town.

The proposals include 33 parking spaces - which officers stated was the maximum number, calculated as one space per staff member and one space per three beds.

The planning report stated: "There are no concerns regarding the intended use of the site for a care home, which is noted as being a form of residential accommodation."

John O'Donnell, of Prestwick Community Council, was the first objector to be heard at the meeting of the regulatory panel last week.

He said that the applicant had spoken to the community council when the plans included the 22 housing units, but said that the new application had raised issues.

"They said that the jewel in the crown was going to be a café at the top of the care home and believed it was going to be very busy," he said.

"One of the concerns is the parking is limited in this area. Where will they park?"

Mr O'Donnell continued: "There is not a lot of land left to build houses [in Prestwick]. At the last update there were over 1000 people on the council's waiting list for a house in Prestwick.

"A lot have been on the housing for a number of years. You are taking away land to build social housing and are putting a care home on it. It is going to mean people waiting even longer for housing.

Resident Shona Bain challenged the decision to create a new access point from Fairway View, pointing out that there are sections of road where two cars are unable to pass one another.

She added that the planning report was inaccurate, with land to be used for the new access described as being adopted.

Ms Bain told the panel that the private residents owned the land and that councillors should visit the site to understand the issues.

Another neighbour, rev George Fiddes, said the building would be a 'monolithic black and a blot on the landscape'.

He added that it was 'essentially getting a commercial development' on land designated for housing.

Councillor Alec Clark took issue with the claims that a care home is not residential. He said: "You have got to remember that we have an ageing population and a nursing home is someone's home."

Labour councillor Ian Cavana took a different view, indicating that social housing is a priority and also raised concerns about the traffic issues and the potential impact on visitors to the proposed cafe.

Councillor Duncan Townson added that he knew the road well and backed the suggestion that it was already a difficult road to travel.

He said: "The bottleneck is difficult and I can't imagine why you would want to increase the road usage numbers by creating an access there."

A number of other councillors also suggested they still had issues with the traffic situation.

The recommendation from planners stated: "The proposals, subject to being appropriately conditioned, will not have an adverse impact on the amenity of the adjoining properties or the character and amenity of the locality.

"The consultation responses do not raise any issues of over-riding concern.

"Equally, the points raised in the representations have been fully considered, but do not raise any issues that would merit a recommendation of refusal of the application."

Councillors voted to make a site visit prior to a decision being taken.

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