A NEW care home initially due to be built almost four years ago has been hit by further delays. 

Work was initially scheduled to begin in July 2012 on the £7m, 60-bed care facility on the corner of Greengate Street and Risedale Road in Barrow with completion penciled in for summer 2013. 

Called Parkview Gardens, the development was designed to replace four care homes in the area and provide care for older adults, with a particular emphasis on those with dementia.


The inside of the care home in October 2014.  The project was delayed for over a year because of drainage issues and work finally began in October 2013. But in March 2015, within weeks of completion, main contractor GB Building Solutions went into administration, throwing the care home into uncertainty and leaving local sub-contractors tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket. 

Then in April of last year, Cumbria County Council revealed a light at the end of the tunnel in the appointment of a new main contractor - Esh Border Construction, to finish the job. However, no work has been carried out at the care home since, despite the vast majority of the construction being complete with just the tiling, some plastering and flat roof work outstanding.

The council has now admitted to the Evening Mail that Esh still hasn't officially been appointed as a new main contractor. Despite this, the council insisted work is set to begin next month and the care home would finally be finished this summer. 

A spokesman for the council said: “We expect to shortly appoint Esh as the new main contractor to complete outstanding work on the new extra care home in Barrow. Unfortunately it’s taken longer than expected to reach this stage because we’ve been re-engaging with many suppliers and sub-contractors, but we’re now hoping to re-start on site in February 2016 and we are hopeful for completion in the summer.”