A care home for dementia sufferers has won planning permission by the narrowest of margins.

The plan to build 47 extra care flats and a day centre on the site of the former Bingley Hospital in Fernbank Drive split the Regulatory and Appeals Committee down the middle when it met yesterday.

The meeting heard from objectors worried that the proposed care home was too large for the site, compared to the now-demolished hospital.

But Shannon Houliston, spokesman for applicant Abbeyfield, said that by 2025, five per cent of Bradford’s population would have dementia.

He said: “These people need care.”

Of the six-person committtee, Councillors Roger L’Amie, Jackie Whiteley and Valerie Binney were against the plan.

Coun Binney said she was concerned that the 33 proposed parking spaces wouldn’t be enough, as the home would have up to 44 staff members working there at one time.

But Councillors David Warburton, Imran Khan and Doreen Lee were in favour of it.

Coun Lee said: “A lot of us are getting older and if we don’t have this in place by the time we are older, we are going to be up the creek.”

Coun Warburton, as chairman, used his casting vote to grant approval.

Ward councillor Mark Shaw (Con, Bingley) said afterwards he could not believe a scheme with 33 parking spaces for 44 staff had been approved.

He said: “I think it’s going to be a nightmare.”

The committee also approved an extension to a filter at a controversial rendering plant in the green belt.

The meeting heard the extension, at Erlings Works near Denholme, would help firm Omega Proteins tackle odour problems at the site.

But one committee member had a stern warning for the company if it ignored planning rules and upset nearby residents with foul smells.

Coun Lee (Lab, Keighley East) said: “We are on top of it this time and we have actually made sure that our Environmental Health team will be checking on a regular basis what’s going on.

“Any past lessons of getting away with things, it’s not going to happen again. As long as I’m a councillor, it’s not going to happen again.”

The plan now has to be approved by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles.