Sheerness: Consultation opens on future of KCC-owned care home

A petition against the home's potential closure had received more than 1,000 signatures

A council-owned care home on the Isle of Sheppey could be closed permanently.

Blackburn Lodge in Sheerness was temporarily closed last November after a inspection found iron levels in the piped water was 20 times higher than permitted.

Kent County Council (KCC) has now started a consultation on a proposal to permanently shut down the site.

Other options considered were to reopen the building or attempt to sell it as a going concern.

The estimated cost of works needed to bring Blackburn Lodge up to required standards would have been £4m, taking about 13 months to complete, KCC said.

'Considerable cost'

The care home provided long-term and short-term residential and day care. Its residents were relocated at short notice when the water issue emerged.

A petition against the home's potential closure had received more than 1,000 signatures.

KCC's cabinet member for adult social care and public health, Dan Watkins, said: "It is not an option we put forward lightly.

"But it does follow a stark assessment of the building's condition, including subsidence and issues with the water supply system, and the considerable cost it will take to fix it."

The consultation will run until 7 May and its findings will be considered by KCC's adult social care committee in July.

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