Windermere's council care home will not learn its future on 27 October, and no new date is on the forward plan. The options, the costs and what scrutiny wants.
Updated 27 October: there is no Cabinet meeting on the council’s calendar for 27 October. The council’s forward plan for 1 November to 28 February does not list the Applethwaite Green decision, which the October plan had down for 27 October. Cabinet next meets on 10 November, at 10am and again at 2pm, and on 15 December. Neither agenda is out yet.
The decision on the future of Applethwaite Green, the council-run care home in Windermere, will not be made on 27 October. Westmorland and Furness Council said on Monday that its Cabinet had agreed to defer the meeting “to a later date”. It gave no new date.
It is the second delay. The decision was first due on 13 October, then moved to an extra Cabinet meeting on 27 October so officers could prepare more evidence. The same delay applies to Grisedale Croft, the council’s care home in Alston.
The council said Cabinet members needed more time to read building surveys, financial modelling, information on other care options and “more than 500 comments and submissions” from the consultation. Source: the council’s statement of 19 October.
Councillor Patricia Bell, the Cabinet member for adults, health and care, said: “As a responsible council Cabinet members want the time and space to read all the factual reports and supporting information.” She said the extra time would let members “conscientiously consider all the evidence in detail before the Cabinet meets, alongside the recommendations that were made recently by the Health and Adults Scrutiny Committee.”
On Tuesday morning the council’s meetings site still listed a Cabinet meeting on 27 October, with no agenda published. The council’s 1 October statement had said the Cabinet reports would be published on 19 October. They have not appeared.
The home and why its future is in question
Applethwaite Green has cared for older people in Windermere, about eight miles north west of Kendal, for more than 50 years. The Care Quality Commission rates it Good. The council’s case for change is set out in its updated consultation pack of 26 June:
- 27 bedrooms, but only 16 in use. The council says this is due to recruitment difficulties, room sizes and a fall in demand. There were 16 residents when the consultation opened on 14 May.
- Bedrooms below the required minimum size, and no scope for en-suite or dementia-friendly rooms without major investment.
- A 2025/26 budget of £1.26 million, forecast in December to overspend by £291,000. That gives a forecast operating cost of £1.55 million before central overheads.
- £361,000 forecast on agency staff, the highest of any council care home. The council blames recruitment problems and the cost of local housing.
- £2,315 per resident a week, based on 15 residents. The council says that is its second most expensive home, and more than double the cost of a place in an independent home.
In a question and answer document of 16 July, the council said the fall from 27 rooms to 16 residents was “due primarily to staffing constraints”. It also said admissions to the home have been paused during the consultation.
The four options Cabinet will choose between
| Option | What the council says it means |
|---|---|
| 1. Do nothing | The home carries on as it is |
| 2. Refurbish | Structural remodelling for larger en-suite rooms, which cuts the number of rooms. The home closes for an estimated 12 to 24 months and residents move out. Indicative cost £2.5 million to £3 million, or more |
| 3. Demolish and rebuild | Costs more than refurbishment. Residents move out for an estimated two to four years |
| 4. Close | Residents move to other homes |
The consultation first described refurbishment as “highly disruptive to current residents”. On 26 June the council made clear it would mean the home closing, and extended the consultation by two weeks to 19 August. In its report on the results, the council says some people had read refurbishment as work done while residents stayed.
The council says there are 12 care homes rated Good within 16 miles, seven of them in Kendal. Between them they had 479 registered places and 29 vacancies on 30 April. Two are council-run: Riverside in Kendal and Croftside in Milnthorpe.
What the consultation found
The council’s consultation report counts 254 survey responses: 181 online, 69 on paper and four from organisations. Of the 250 individuals, 164 chose refurbishment. Seven chose closure.
Fifteen people chose “Option 1.5”, which was not on the form. It was put forward by local residents during the consultation: keep the home open and refurbish it in stages. Their written proposal said a simple refurbishment could take the home “from 28 rooms to 22, but with all meeting CQC regulations”. The council’s report says support for the idea went wider than the 15 who named it.
Windermere and Bowness Town Council, Coniston and Hawkshead parish councils and the Grange and Lakes Primary Care Network all responded. So did residents, staff and relatives through Tim Farron, the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale. The most common worries, in the report’s summary, were:
- what a move would do to residents, many living with dementia or frailty
- families, often elderly or relying on buses, losing daily visits
- losing local residential care for Windermere, Ambleside, Coniston and Hawkshead
- doubts about the council’s figures on occupancy, demand and costs
What the scrutiny committee asked Cabinet to do
Councillors on the Health and Adults Scrutiny Committee questioned officers on 23 September. Their minutes record nine recommendations to Cabinet. They asked it to:
- acknowledge “strong support for retaining and refurbishing Applethwaite Green”
- appraise phased refurbishment and Option 1.5 before any decision on closure or relocation
- publish a full comparative financial appraisal
- assess future demand for residential care across the central Lakes
- show that care will stay within reach of Windermere and its villages before cutting capacity
- require a transition and wellbeing plan before anyone is moved
- complete full equality impact assessments
- do more work on staffing
- consider visiting the home before deciding
The minutes record one councillor saying a wing of the home had been out of use for four years, and asking why it could not be refurbished first. Officers said moving residents around the building would be problematic, because the heating and electrics needed work throughout.
What it means for you
- If you have a relative at Applethwaite Green: nothing changes yet. No option has been chosen, and the council has not set a new decision date. Its next scheduled Cabinet meetings are on 10 November and 15 December. It has not said whether either will take the decision.
- If you are looking for a care home place in Windermere: admissions to Applethwaite Green are paused while the decision is pending, on the council’s own account.
- To read the evidence: every anonymised response, the Healthwatch and N-Compass reports and the residents’ Option 1.5 proposal are on the consultation page. Paper copies are at Kendal Town Hall.
- Questions go to care.consultation@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk or 0300 373 3301, the contacts given in the consultation pack.
We will report the Cabinet papers when they are published, and the decision when it is made.
Have your say