New Ashbourne care home approved
It'll create dozens of new jobs
Proposals for a new care home in a Derbyshire town have been approved, creating 70 jobs – after taller designs were rejected last year.
Last night (11 January), at a meeting of Derbyshire Dales District Council’s planning committee, councillors unanimously approved plans for a 70-bed care home on the corner of Premier Avenue and Wyaston Road, in Ashbourne.
This comes seven months after councillors rejected plans for a 64-bed care home and nine houses on the site – largely due to the two-and-a-half-storey height of the proposed care home.
Objecting residents felt the “overbearing” plans would “fundamentally change our neighbourhood for the worst”.
The new plans, from Perseus Land and Developments, pitched a shorter one-and-a-half storey design, which was welcomed by councillors.
Cllr Tom Donnelly, who represents Ashbourne, said the previous plans were “a bit overbearing” but was “impressed” by the revised application.
He said: “I think it is a good scheme and if you look around at the population of Ashbourne, myself included, one day we might need a bed there, you never know.”
Cllr Robert Archer, who is also a district councillor for Ashbourne, said: “I think it is nice to have a facility like this, we have had so much new housing in that area, so many families moving in there and it is going to be nice for them to have a potential facility to move elderly relatives in there.
“I am really glad they have lowered the height down because I think that was a big concern with the previous plan.
“Although, without being rude about it, I may not be quite as close to needing it as you, Tom, my mum might be.”
Cllr Sue Burfoot said she wished the applicant every success but asked that a request from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service, for an automatic sprinkler system in the care home, be taken on board.
Cllr Peter Slack said: “There is a great need for care homes and for carers and I fully support it, and is something we all need later on in life.”
Cllr Stuart Lees, a district councillor for Ashbourne, said that he too was “not quite ready to go there yet” but welcomed Perseus coming back with a “better scheme”.
Karine Johnson, agent for the applicant, said there was an urgent need for a new care home in Ashbourne, as backed by Derbyshire County Council.
She said: “I believe that you (the district council) were keen to see this site redeveloped, but couldn’t support the design of the scheme so you invited us to review it and submit a new application and that is what we have done.”
Ms Johnson said the new design was “much, much smaller in height” and that the impact on neighbouring properties would not be significant.
This is a high quality development which will provide much-needed care home beds in Ashbourne.
Perseus’ approved care home would have 70 bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a cafe, dining rooms, lounges, a cinema and a hairdresser.
The proposed building, on what is currently a vacant farmyard including an historic farmhouse, would peak at 6.3 metres high and 11 metres high in some areas.
Meanwhile, the site would include 25 parking spots, of which 22 would be for cars, two for disabled users and one for an ambulance, alongside 10 spaces for bikes.
The applicant says the development will create 70 jobs.
It says the care home would have a range of energy-saving features, including solar panels and LED lighting.
The gardens surrounding the proposed approved care home would include a multi-use lawn for summer games, with sensory and wildlife gardens and a summer house.
Approval of the development will also see the developers give £13,440 for improvements at Ashbourne Surgery and Ashbourne Medical Practice.
Five objection letters were submitted by surrounding residents, who said the scale was still too high, at three metres taller than their homes, and that it would overlook their properties.
They contended the development would bring down house values and provide insufficient parking spaces, which could worsen existing issues near the site at school drop-off and pick-up times – with Hilltop Primary School sitting opposite the plot.
Council planning officer Sarah Arbon wrote in a report ahead of the meeting that there is a recognised need for 500 bed spaces to be provided in Residential Care Homes (Within Use Class C2) over the plan period to 2033.
She wrote: “The Local Planning Authority acknowledges that there is a recognised need for registered care accommodation with the Derbyshire Dales area.
“The proposal will make a significant contribution to addressing this need with a 70-bed high quality care home with associated environmental and sustainability enhancements.
“It is considered that extensive amendments have been made to the scheme that have taken on board the refusal reasons and pre-application advice given which has resulted in a building that would sit comfortably within its context.
“The landscaping is considered high quality and would create a high quality environment for future residents, maintaining open areas to the east and west framed by existing trees.”