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Go-ahead given to sleeper accommodation at Grantown care home





The three accommodation pods which have been installed at Lynemore care home in Grantown.
The three accommodation pods which have been installed at Lynemore care home in Grantown.

A leading care home provider has been given the go-ahead retrospectively for temporary accommodation to help with staffing.

Parklands Care Homes has been given the go-ahead for three temporary sleeper units in the grounds of Lynemore Care Home in Grantown.

Highland Council planners have approved the move under delegated powers.

A Parklands Group spokesman said: “The accommodation is to support relief staff whenever they are seconded from our other homes to Lynemore care home.

“We are conscious that rental accommodation can be expensive and difficult to source so this enables us to support staff who are working away from home.

“The units are also used by overseas staff when they first arrive, until they secure their own accommodation.

“The pods are temporary and are expected to remain in place until the end of the year.

“We are looking at options for alternative accommodation provision in the town and, longer term, we plan to build 24 affordable rental properties in Inverness in order the help address the shortage of affordable housing for care staff in the area.

“This accommodation will be available to staff in other areas including Grantown.”

There were several objections from neighbours to the addition of the sleeper units at the care home on Seafield Avenue.

These included the finished appearance of the development not being in-keeping with the area; loss of residential and visual amenity and loss of sunlight and privacy.

Neighbour James Mitchell had lodged concerns with Highland Council planners over sewerage arrangements.

He stated: “We have previously referred to the metal septic tank located beneath these cabins and the potential dangers that this poses.

“There is now a fortnightly visit to these cabins to empty the septic tank. This is both incredibly noisy and smelly. The stench is overpowering. The emptying process takes about 15 mins per visit.”

Agents CRGP Architects had stated in their submission: “The proposal is to erect temporary modular units to provide sleeping accommodation for three staff. outside the main building in its car parking bays.

“Each unit features sanitary fittings, storage and desk space as well as sleeping arrangements.”

Approving the application, council planning officer Sile Tang stated: “The proposal will benefit existing local businesses and its staff enabling them to live close to work particularly given the difficulties in providing accommodation for staff in the area.

“As the development is temporary, it is appropriate to control this by condition, limiting the duration of the siting of the units.

“The applicant had identified that the units would be sited only until 31 December 2024. It is considered appropriate to extend this period until the end of January 2025 to allow for the holiday period and any potential delay or bad weather.

“It is generally considered the proposed development is acceptable given its temporary nature.”

On the concerns of bad odour, the council planner stated: “The site was visited by environmental health on 5th April 2024 and no odour was evident.

“However, it is understood that the units are not plumbed into a drainage system and that effluent goes into a closed tank.

“This gets emptied about once a week by tanker and it is possible that during this time, odour from the displaced air might be noticeable at the nearest residential properties.

“This service has no records of any complaints being received and given the short timescale of the emptying operations it is unlikely that it would constitute a statutory nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.”


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