Plan to use Gayton care home site as hostel rejected

West Northamptonshire Council rejected the plans

A plan to turn a former care home into a hostel has been rejected after about 140 residents expressed opposition.

Westgate House on Eastcote Road in Gayton, Northamptonshire, shut in early 2022 and was used as a hostel without permission from November.

Owners Midlands Living CIC said it wanted to house asylum seekers there, but the Home Office decided not to.

The application was refused at a West Northamptonshire planning committee meeting.

The council had told the company it needed to officially apply in order to use it as a hostel.

Planning officers said the hostel would have been "incompatible" with the village's character.

After the Home Office decided not to use the site for asylum seekers in February, the hostel had been used for unspecified occupants, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The council said that was an unsuitable use of the site.

It added that due to the shortage of care home places in the area, the site should be used for its original purpose.

Midlands Living CIC has been contacted for comment.