A RECENTLY closed council-owned care home in North Berwick has gone on the market for about £1.2 million – just days before a community meeting is held to consider the building’s future.

Earlier this year, cash-strapped health chiefs made the decision to close The Abbey as part of a series of “financial reovery measures” amid a £10 million county-wide funding gap.

The century-old building did not fully meet health and care standards, said the authorities.

All residents have now been moved out of the Category B-listed building on Old Abbey Road and it has now been put up for sale by owners East Lothian Council.

A spokesperson for East Lothian Health & Social Care Partnership said: “We are pleased to confirm that all former Abbey residents have now settled into their new homes. Once the residents had moved, the building was cleared and cleaned as part of the decommissioning process.”

The Abbey, which was able to accommodate up to 30 residents, had been scheduled to close on September 1 but did so earlier after all residents were successfully relocated.

READ MORE: The Abbey goes on the market for offers around £1.2 million

Members of the public are due to meet next Thursday (September 5) at 7pm to examine the possibility of a community asset transfer of the building, which would bring it into public ownership. North Berwick Community Development Company (NBCDC) is hosting a meeting in the town’s community centre.

Kenny Miller, chairman of North Berwick Community Council and co-chair of NBCDC, is among those planning to be in attendance.

He said that a “loose idea” of forming a community hub and providing space for organisations in the town had been drawn up.

He added: “There is quite a lot of community space in the town – the community centre and various other spaces, like the Hope Rooms – but the problem from an organisation’s point of view is they can rent or use it for a temporary period and then they have to pack up their stuff, move out and walk away.

“The youth project, for example, would love a space they could set up and call their own that had outdoor space and would not have to take it all to bits.”

The grounds of The Abbey already provides a base for the award-winning North Berwick in Bloom and Herbspace, which offers young people a space where they can spend time, relax and gain confidence, as well as learn gardening skills and connect with nature – elements that support physical, mental and emotional well-being.

Any community takeover would have to demonstrate it was financially viable.

Mr Miller highlighted that that could mean making use of the upper-floor bedrooms as office space or creating a budget hostel.

He added: “There are a lot of different options on the table. What we do hope to do is get together the various organisations and put out some call to have a general meeting – who would be interested and for what and the kind of space they would want.”

Ahead of the closure of the care home, concerns were raised about the lack of care home provision in the town.

The building was built on the grounds of a 12th-century convent known as North Berwick Priory.

According to East Lothian Council: “The property comprises a two-storey rambling L-Plan House built in 1907, adjoining single storey and attic cottage built in 1908.

“The house is made of local law stone with a pitched slate roof and, in some areas, original windows have been retained in their original stonework. Outstanding features of the property have been retained internally which include period wood panelling, beamed ceilings and elephant hide frieze and carved masques in the entrance hall.

“After its completion in 1908, The Abbey was used as a private home until the 1950s, when it was sold to the Edinburgh Corporation Social Services Department. In the 1960s, the Abbey began operating as a holiday home for elderly residents of Edinburgh and then at a later date to take permanent residents.”

East Lothian Council is inviting offers of “around £1.2 million” for the property.

The future of the building is being considered by the council’s asset group "in line with strategy and process”.