Former care home plans set for OK

Fir Grove went under the hammer last year and was bought by Blackburn-based developer Northwest Estates for £290,000.

The home, along with Oswaldtwistle's Peel Court and Northlands, Great Harwood, all of which are empty, were sold at an auction in Manchester Airport after the council decided to close 32 of its homes for the elderly, despite widespread opposition from residents, relations and the public.

Another home, Hambledon House in Burnley, is also to be sold and Woodside, Burnley, is undergoing refurbishment. Another 17 across East Lancashire still have residents, although some are earmarked for closure in the next couple of years.

The plans for Fir Grove, in Fir Grove Road are for the demolition of the existing building and the erection of 15 two and three-storey houses.

Five letters of objection have been sent to Burnley Council but the proposals are set to be approved by planning officers under delegated powers.

The six residents, including Elsie Hodgson aged 100, were moved out of Fir Grove ready for the building's closure last August.

It is more than a year since Lancashire County Council first mooted the idea of closing 35 of its 48 homes as part of a reorganisation of its care services. Initially it planned to move old folk into the private sector with new cases being given home help in all but the most extreme of cases.

But the plans sparked outrage across the community and led to a Lancashire Evening Telegraph campaign. The backlash resulted in three homes being saved and a promise that no-one who wanted to stay in LCC care would be moved to the private sector.

Lancashire County Council also said all the money generated from the sale of the homes would be going back into the funds for the care of the elderly including refurbishments of existing homes, sheltered housing and other services.

The Fir Grove plans will be discussed by councillors at a meeting of the development control committee on Thursday.