Former care home demolition will cut costs

A former care home which has been a target for anti-social behaviour is to be demolished at a cost of £175,000.

Hurlfield View Care Home , in Gleadless Common, Sheffield closed in March 2017, despite campaigners fighting to keep it open as the last remianing dementia respite care centre.

The closure went ahead, despite 5,900 people signing an online petition opposing the move, after NHS funding was ended and the building was put on the market but failed to sell.

The council said the decision to demolish the building would cut maintenance costs and make the site safe and secure.

A report to the council's finance and performance policy committee said: "Previous attempts have been made to re-purpose the site, however the condition of the building and its apparent attraction of anti-social behaviour has made this difficult, therefore a decision was taken to demolish the building."

It said the building was an "ongoing liability" and poses no real opportunity for future development.

Councillors were told that the site will be cleared to ground level and the foundations and drainage will be removed.

Fencing and gates will also be installed to secure the boundary, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The demolition is expected to be completed by April 2025.

Councillor Elle Dodd commented that the demolition decision had been taken a year ago.

She said money spent on maintenance could have been saved if it had gone ahead more swiftly.

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.