Firm behind Dumfries care home turns attentions elsewhere after proposal rejected

The firm behind plans for a new care home on the outskirts of Dumfries is turning its attentions elsewhere.

Simply UK had been proposing to develop a 60-bed facility on a site between Park and Dalbeattie Road.

However, the planning application was rejected by councillors amid fears about the impact it would have on the landscape and Curriestanes Cursis, a Neolithic ritual monument.

In a statement, Simply UK said: “We are extremely disappointed to note the refusal of our application for our new care home at Dalbeattie Road in Dumfries.

“This facility, the first new one in the town since the millennium and openly acknowledged by the council as lacking within the town, would have provided state of the art facilities for local residents. The quality of care would have been to the very highest standard, would have created a significant number of locally sourced new jobs and have represented a multi-million pound investment into the local economy.

“We deployed considerable professional expertise and expense over a protracted period to liaise with the planning department and we believed we had a robust and deliverable proposal.

“Our resources will now be redeployed elsewhere within the country as the site we had chosen after an exhaustive search was the only one we believed could offer the juxtaposition of location and amenity necessary for our residents.”