A CARE company is seeking to demolish a nursing home that East Lothian Council paid £300,000 to have refurbished.
The council leased Greenfield Park Care Home in Musselburgh to house elderly residents earlier this year after the troubled Cockenzie House Nursing Home closed.
Now owners, Forth Care, want to demolish the home and build a larger one in the ground
s and council officials are recommending they be given permission.
The news has sparked anger among residents' families, who say that their relatives have already undergone the trauma of one move and have hit out at the council for wasting taxpayers' money on the refurbishment.
Fourteen neighbours have objected to the plans, which have also been opposed by the Greenfield Park Residents' Association.
Don Sowden, of Port Seton, whose 83-year-old wife Dorothy is cared for at Greenfield Park, said the news was "unbelievable". She has already moved twice this year, first from Cockenzie House and then from Tranent Nursing Home.
He said: "I just don't understand this. They've spent an awful lot of money on Greenfield Park. It's been fully refurbished and they only opened in March this year.
"Where are they going to put the residents when they've demolished the home? There isn't enough space to keep it open and build a new one at the same time.
"I'm very worried about my wife. This year has been very traumatic, and she's only just got settled in Greenfield Park. I'm very happy with the care she's getting there."
Rev Robert Glover, the former chairman of the Cockenzie House Action Group, said he was concerned that moving the residents again would harm their health.
He said: "This is very sad, but nothing would surprise me any more with regard to the care of these elderly people. More than half of them have already died since Cockenzie House closed."
East Lothian Council took out a three-year lease on the home, after the owner of Cockenzie House Nursing Home decided to close it. The Care Commission had criticised the home and imposed a ban on new admissions.
Around 20 of the residents were moved to Greenfield Park, a derelict home which was given a full upgrade. But now Forth Care wants to demolish the home when the lease is up.
In its application, it states: "There has been a series of care home closures in East Lothian, and there is a demand for additional care home beds.
"Rather than alter the existing buildings again, we are proposing a modern care home that will comply with the latest standards and provide an additional 15 beds at the same location. It is envisaged that the proposed care home will also be a major improvement on the unsightly collection of existing buildings."
An East Lothian council spokesman said it had taken a lease for three years, and no work would start before the end of 2011. The application will be heard by councillors tomorrow.
