Charity pulls out of a deal to convert Swindon family house into care home.
Residents and councillors and a former Mayor of Swindon opposed the move.
Last updated 26th Jun 2022
The company which hoped to use a large family house in Swindon as a home for six people needing care has pulled out of the deal.
The White Horse Care Trust had been given approval by planners at Swindon Borough Council to use the house in Okebourne Park in Liden, but residents, councillors and a former Mayor of Swindon opposed the move, saying the house was not suitable and there is a covenant preventing use of the building for a business.
Now the trust has withdrawn from the plan and is looking for a property elsewhere.
The trust’s chief clinical operations executive Erica Pryce said: “We identified the property in Okebourne Park as being an appropriately sized and delightful property in an ideal location in what we hoped would have been an appropriate neighbourhood for five older individuals with learning disabilities".
“Shortly before completion the trust received a letter from a solicitor representing a number of residents adjacent to the property threatening our charity with legal action. It was accompanied by a 90-person petition of Okebourne Park residents. The trust came to the conclusion that this was not an area where our residents would be made welcome due to the adverse comments expressed by some local residents in Okebourne Park.”