Councillors to decide on care home demolition plans

The Manor House residential home in Wakefield Road, Lightcliffe.

The proposals for The Manor House residential home in Wakefield Road to be knocked down to build 14 new properties will go before Calderdale Council’s planning committee on February 2.

David Wilson Homes has already secured planning permission for 28 houses on the land immediately to the north and east of the site.

The report from planning officers that will go before the committee is recommending that permission is be granted for the development.

It states: “The site is located within a sustainable location, in close proximity to local services within the centre of Hipperholme and in Lightcliffe and with good public transport links.

“The scale of the proposed development would not exceed the capacity of existing and planned infrastructure.”

However, letters of objection have raised concerns that the existing building is of historic merit and it should not be demolished.

Concerns have also been raised about the loss of a care home facility. However, planning officers said that protecting community asset is limited to shops, post offices, public houses and hotels, and does not extend to care homes.

The care home is in private ownership and could close at any time without involvement from the Council.

Planning agents PB Planning Limited acting for the developers said in their plans that the development will have full regard to the existing quality and character of the locality, its existing neighbourhoods and their setting.

The agents also highlighted in their proposals that predicted traffic will have negligible impact on highway network.

In a recent Care Quality Commission report the nursing home was rated as “requires improvement” after the health watchdog found breaches of Health and Social Care Act regulations.

The nursing home has been established for the last 24 years.

The Manor House Residential Home provides accommodation and personal care for up to 30 older people, some of whom may be living with dementia.

The committee meeting will take place at Halifax Town Hall at 2pm.