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Opposition councillors have blasted the failure of the proposed £40m care village in Ayr town centre, saying it was doomed from the outset. South Ayrshire Council admitted the project would not go ahead ‘due to a lack of funding’, with NHS Ayrshire and Arran unable to make a contribution to the development. When the move was first mooted back in 2023, the Local Democracy Reporting Service pointed out that NHS A&A had clearly stated that they would not be able to provide any capital funding for the project. The report to council stated that the lack of any ongoing revenue support, and the health board request that rent would be ‘cost neutral’ meant that the plan was unviable. The proposals were pushed as an alternative to the creation of a new leisure centre on the site of the former Hourstons department store and Arran Mall in Ayr. Officers will now draw up residential redevelopment options for a decision in March, with demolition targeted to start in the spring. Assistant Director of Planning, Development and Regulation, Chris Cox, said the paper “follows on from the decisions of Cabinet in April 2024,” which had directed officers to work with the Health and Social Care Partnership and NHS Ayrshire & Arran on the proposal’s operating impact. She told councillors that the new housing would cost around £300k a year to run. Ms Cox said preliminary design work had been commissioned to test a larger, clinically-focused model. “The report outlines the detailed discussion with the partnership and concludes that this 2,600-square-meter facility would achieve only limited benefit and that development including clinical space and GP facilities would be could achieve significant benefit,” she said. “To establish the cost of such a facility, £38 million is referenced in the recommendations.” However, she added, the health board’s position had since been clarified: “With confirmation that when they could only agree a lease on a cost-neutral position, work done to date indicates that this would not be possible.” She also warned the statutory steps needed before any lease would take “a timescale order of three years,” and that “more recently… NHS Ayrshire and Arran could not commit any revenue from the funding to the project.” She added: “Given the identified cost of renting the new estate, the limited service and client benefit, the cost of the facility, it is not possible to recommend that the proposals approved in principle in April 2024 would represent benefit.” The report recommended that officers develop options for a residential development on the site. She added that preparatory work and consents now place the council in a good position to advance demolition by next spring. Quizzed on the costs to date, she said the total spend since 2018 was £6.7m although this covered buying the properties and demolition that would be required no matter the nature of the development. A further £140,000 was spent on consultants. Cllr Bob Shields asked why the council had gone so far “if they didn’t commit to it,” and queried a £4.2m demolition estimate. Ms Cox replied that the NHS were involved in the discussion and had been supportive of the proposed development. However, she said that support was on an understanding of what the costs would involved and that they would not be in a position to commit until the council carried out the work they have now done. Several members welcomed a line being drawn. SNP Group Leader Julie Dettbarn said: “I’m actually quite relieved to see a line being drawn under this finally today. “It’s my clear understanding that, right from the get-go, the NHS were very clear that they didn’t have the money to contribute towards this.” Others were more critical. Labour Cllr Brian McGinley said: “I’m not relieved… I’m rather angry about it,” arguing it had been clear the NHS could not pay. He said: “It’s important that we are honest. This is an expensive piece of land and people need to take responsibility for that.” Ms Cox outlined the view for housing. She said: “We’re looking at a whole range of housing options from the council marketing and selling the site, to the council developing the site itself, and options in between.” A string of councillors voiced frustration at the lack of progress since the site was acquired. Labour Group Leader Cllr Duncan Townson emphasised the need for affordable housing, adding: “We really do need to get moving. I don’t want it to become our Station Hotel where it just decays over time.” Cllr Hugh Hunter called the decision “really disappointing,” but added: “We’ll have a wonderful opportunity to do something new and meaningful in the town centre.” There was also a brief, contested exchange about historic legal title issues at the site, with former Leader Martin Dowey asserting these would have blocked previous leisure-centre plans regardless.
