PLANS for two “super” care homes have been shelved because of a fall in property values caused by the recession.

The council has published its capital programme for 2009/10, which details planned investment in building projects.

The authority planned to close all council-run care homes, including Walton House, in Chingford Mount Road, and use the proceeds to fund two new “super” care homes.

But because the amount that can be recouped from sales of land and buildings has plummeted, the council has had to revise its plans - meaning it will no longer have enough cash to fund the new homes.

The move has come as no surprise to members of the Walton House Action Group, who have long been sceptical that the authority could, or even wanted to, build the new homes.

Jean James-Shaw, whose 87-year-old mother Violet Worts has yet to find a new home, said: “We said all along that the council was not going to build the homes, but nobody took any notice.”

At a scrutiny meeting last night, Matt Davis, Conservative group leader, called for the committee to agree a recommendation to cabinet that Walton House be saved.

He said: “I believe very strongly and so does my group that there is an opportunity here to keep Walton House open, as the justification for closing it has just gone out the window.”

But the Lib Dem and Labour councillors disagreed and voted against the recommendation.

Lib Dem councillor Sheila Smith-Pryor said it would be “morally wrong” to disrupt the residents of Walton House again now that plans have been largely finalised for their moving out.

There are still nine residents left in Walton House, most of whom are on waiting lists to be moved into new homes.

Mrs James-Shaw said: “Many of the people who were forced to move are in hospital or dying, the way the residents have been treated is disgusting.”

She claims the council did not originally give residents a limit to how much the authority would pay to have them re-homed, meaning many identified homes which they could not move to.

Mrs James-Shaw said her mother has yet to identify a suitable home, and was angered by a letter from the council threatening to find a home for her if a decision is not made soon.