New care home for Elgin gets initial approval
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Proposals to build a 40-bed care home next to the Eight Acres Hotel in Elgin took a major step forward today.
Moray Council has granted 'planning permission in principle' to Parklands Development Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Parklands Care Homes.
The site is on about an acre of scrubland to the west of the hotel.
As the application was only for permission in principle, there are no images or details about exactly how the care home will look.
However the building will be two-storey and have a car park which will be accessed from the existing hotel entrance.
The new facility overlooking the A96 would be Parklands’ sixth Moray care home. It currently has homes in Aberlour, Keith and three in Buckie.
A spokesman for Parklands Care Homes said: "We welcome the decision by Moray Council to grant planning consent in principle for our proposed care home in Elgin.
"Clearly, there is still much work to do to develop a comprehensive plan for the site and this will take some time.
"With inflation and interest rates at very high levels, it will be prudent also to wait for more stability in the economy before progressing to the construction phase.
"This decision is nevertheless an important first step towards the delivery of a much needed state of the art care facility for Elgin."
Parklands, which was launched in Buckie during 1993, employs about 700 people and is currently building a new 58-bed care home in Inverness.
View the application by clicking HERE and looking at pages 107-136.
The Eight Acres Hotel ceased operations in April and now houses asylum seekers.
A public meeting about that issue is being held from 7pm onwards tomorrow (Tuesday) at Elgin Town Hall.
