Plan to turn former Inverness care home into two houses refused by Highland Council

Highland Council has rejected a proposal to build two new homes on the site of a former care home in Inverness.

Manda Construction is hoping to transform the former Fairfield Nursing Home in the city’s Fairfield Road.

The Care Inspectorate served the home with an improvement notice in 2018. It closed shortly after.

Since then, several plans for the site have been working their way through the council’s planning system.

But the latest one, to build two three-bedroom semi-detached homes, has been rejected because it would have a detrimental effect on “community amenity”.

Controversy over new housing

An earlier application for the site provoked controversy in 2020.

Highland councillors ultimately rejected plans from Inverness Property Management to turn the empty care home into a 32-bedroom guest house or budget hotel.

Neighbours objected, citing concerns about road and pedestrian safety and a lack of sufficient parking.

A new application to change the use of the building to housing was approved in 2021.

And in October 2022, an application to partially demolition the building and put two houses in its place was also approved.

But a question mark has been placed over those houses after the latest planning decision.

Planning consultants Mabbett are acting on behalf of Manda Construction.

In a statement about the application, the firm said: “The proposed three-bed semi-detached houses will be of a modest scale and character.

“They will sympathetically sit within the surrounding context.

“It would be ensured that the development is not detrimental to its surrounding environment.”

Plan for former care home a ‘significant overdevelopment’

However, the council’s area planning manager David Mudie did not agree with Mabbett’s assessment.

He said the plans represented a “significant level of overdevelopment”.

“It would therefore be significantly detrimental to individual and community residential amenity,” he said.

“It would not make a positive contribution to the architectural and visual quality of the street.”

Planning permission for housing at the address is still in place. That makes it seem likely that an amended application will come forward.

However, Manda Construction could not be reached for comment.

The Care Inspectorate’s 2018 report of the former nursing home was damning.

Its hard-hitting notice raised concerns about failing to meet residents’ needs “in a way which respects their wishes and choices”.

A spokeswoman for the Care Inspectorate said at the time: “The care provided at this home is not good enough.”

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