Nursing home hope as new buyer eyes Holland House site

Published on 10th May 2007 in News

There was a major development in the long-running saga relating to Holland House this week when the chairman of the nursing home's action group met with a potential buyer.

Keith Moore, chairman of the Holland House Action Group (HHAG), exclusively told the Goole Times this week that he met with the managing director of Brantingham-based Yorkare Homes on Tuesday to discuss the future of the condemned nursing home in Hook. The company is said to be interested in purchasing Holland House and returning it to its former purpose, a move which could see a 60-bed nursing home and a potential new build.

It has been a turbulent history for Holland House, which is currently owned by PD Services, a company that proposed to transform the former nursing home into a secure mental health facility - but after a series of failed planning applications, the company withdrew its planning appeal earlier this year. One week later, Partnerships in Care withdrew a similar planning appeal against the East Riding of Yorkshire Council's (ERYC) refusal to grant permission for the nursing home to be turned into a secure unit for women with personality disorders.

But on Tuesday, the future looked significantly brighter for the nursing home when HHAG chairman Keith Moore and fellow HHAG member Neil Robinson met with John Garton, managing director of Yorkare Homes Ltd.

Mr Garton told the Goole Times: "Basically, I am a care home operator who is looking to expand, and Social Services has identified Goole as an area that is in great need of social care.

"I have been in the nursing industry for 20 years and own five nursing homes around the East Riding. I have attempted to contact PD Services, telling them that I am interested in purchasing Holland House but as yet, I have had no response."

Chairman Keith Moore said that he was "enthused" by what he heard at Tuesday's meeting, despite the fact that the procurement of Holland House from PD Services could prove to be difficult.

"It is pleasing to know that Yorkare recognises the need for more nursing beds in Goole, and it endorses what HHAG and the community have said for the last three years," he said.

"From what Yorkare has said, this would be a high-quality facility, and good news for Goole if it comes off. We're talking about the possibility of 60 beds, that's 14 above the amount that Holland House had previously.

"But we don't know what PD Services has in mind, there could be a simple explanation as to why there has been no response yet."

Mr Moore added that, if the latest proposals were to go ahead, he would be working with ERYC's social services department and hopes that it would help the potential new buyer by purchasing a number of beds.

"At a meeting with ERYC about 18 months ago, the then-director said he would be willing to help out with beds so that shouldn't be a problem," he said.

"For now, it is just a case of waiting to see if PD Services is willing to sell up and move on. I implore PD Services to give consideration to this - we're not talking about winners or losers now."