Last updated at 13:08, Friday, 01 March 2013

An ultimatum will be issued to Cumbria County Council over its plans for the Richmond Park care home in Workington.

Members of Workington Town Council’s allotments committee agreed to write to the county council to ask it to send details of its plans for the care home within the next 12 months.

Councillors want to know what is going on with the land so they can decide whether to invest in redeveloping the nearby Stoneleigh allotment site.

Richmond Park, on High Street, was saved from closure in April last year after a campaign by the Friends of Richmond Park.

The county council proposed closing the home as it was no longer fit for purpose, but the home’s group of supporters put forward a proposal to create sheltered accommodation and upgrade the care home.

Town council leader Gerald Humes said at the committee meeting on Wednesday that two out of the 11 plots on Stoneleigh allotments suffer from flooding because of poor drainage and were in need of redevelopment.

He added they should give the county council 12 months to come forward with a plan and if it did not materialise, they would temporarily relocate the allotment holders to other sites while Stoneleigh was redeveloped.

Chris Bagshaw, town clerk, said he would arrange a meeting with the allotment holders to tell them of the plan.

In June last year, the tenants attended a meeting with the town council, where they agreed to vacate the land to ensure the survival of the nearby Richmond Park care home.

But, despite this show of community spirit, the county council said it was still too early to say whether it would go ahead with a proposal to use the site to create extra care housing, similar to sheltered housing.

First published at 12:34, Friday, 01 March 2013
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk