Supporters fighting to have a care home reopened could learn its fate in “weeks rather than months”.

Thirteen residents were moved out of Blackburn Lodge in Sheerness after high concentrations of iron were found in its water supply and triggered an emergency closure.

Around 50 people use its daycare facilities and alternative arrangements have yet to be found for them.

The home is run by Kent County Council (KCC), which has ordered a report into its future.

All 13 have been found alternative places but one is 37 miles away in Tenterden.

Cabinet member for adult social care, Cllr Dan Watkins, yesterday (Thursday) told members he acknowledged the closure earlier this month was a “distressing situation for everyone involved”.

In answer to a question by Cllr Mike Whiting, who represents Sheppey, Cllr Watkins said the report will be produced in a matter of weeks, not months.

In trying to find spaces for daycare users, the council had approached Age UK but it is currently "quite full".

Campaigner Dolley Wooster, a town and borough councillor, welcomed Cllr Watkins’ “supportive” stance.

She did not believe the emergency closure was an excuse for Blackburn Lodge to be shut permanently, given KCC’s perilous financial situation.

Cllr Wooster added: “The KCC report should be a public document and I welcome the estimate of weeks and this should be a priority for KCC to realise.”

But the mother-of-two said she would like Cllr Watkins to meet with her and the families of residents and users of the home.

Cllr Wooster, who sat in the public gallery for the adult social care cabinet committee, added: “It’s rated good by the CQC, the building is sound and the need for it is growing. It’s a viable home and a viable asset.

“It’s a public asset paid for by public money and it should be up to the public what happens to it.

“KCC could still be the heroes in this.”

Cllr Watkins said that the iron concentrations found in the water samples contravened Health and Safety regulations and were caused by decaying pipes.

He added: “I recognise and sympathise with how very upsetting this is for Sheppey residents who need care and want to remain on the Island and the added inconvenience for local families who have to travel further to stay in touch with their loved ones placed in residential care homes in other parts of Kent.”

The home, rated good by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), was inspected post-Covid-19 in April last year.

CQC inspectors found numerous examples of good practice there.

These included a visiting regime in line with government guidance with unlimited time for visitors to stay with their loved one in private.

The report also notes: “The building was clean and odour-free. Staff had imaginatively supported people to maintain relationships following guidance.

“There had been a virtual tea party when people and their relatives enjoyed drinks and cakes using social media to see each other.

“A cinema room had been created with themed film shows to help people socialise when visiting from relatives was significantly restricted. Also, people had been supported to celebrate the lives of some residents who had died by attending an in-memoriam service.”

Last weekend families affected by the closure staged a protest outside the care home.

David Sawyer,’s mother-in-law Rita Bronger, 92, was moved off the Island to Tenterden.

She has dementia and he said she was finding the move difficult, even refusing to eat.

He described the manner in which the home was shut so suddently as “appalling”.