THE councillor proposing to close 35 of Lancashire's old people's residential homes will this week come face-to-face with the people most affected by the plans.

Coun Chris Cheetham's whirlwind tour of many of the county's residential homes comes as councillors prepare to earmark £200,000 in design and planning fees for changes to the homes which will be kept open.

Last week, council bosses unveiled plans to close 35 of Lancashire's 48 homes. The remaining 13 will be redeveloped, at a cost of between £5million and £10million, to meet new home standards.

The cost of the refits will be met by the sale of the closed homes. To have refurbished them all would have cost £14.5million.

The closure will more than halve the number of care places provided by the county council, with around 600 people currently in authority homes facing the prospect of being moved into private care.

In the future, emphasis will be placed on people being looked after in their own homes rather than in residential homes.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "Meetings are being held to hear what residents think at every homes in the county.

"Senior officers will be attending them and Coun Cheetham, who is in charge of social services, will attend as many as possible.

"After that, public meetings will be held so we can listen to people's opinions to the plans."

A report to this week's cabinet will give councillors the first chance to give their reaction to the proposed closures.

The report states that unions, councillors, MPs, family of residents and residents themselves will all be consulted. But Coun Cheetham has warned that people will have to present him with a viable alternative to the closures if the homes aren't to be axed.

The report also reveals £200,000 has been set aside by Lancashire County Council to fund design and planning fees in relation to the adaptation of the homes which will remain open.

Coun Cheetham said: "These homes require work on them. We haven't just picked the homes which require the least work, we have picked the ones which have space to expand, or which are more popular than others.

"Some require a good deal of building work to develop them for the future.

"Approving the allocation of £200,000 will not prejudice the consultation. It is simply us planning for the future."