Herefordshire Council planners are reconsidering an application to build a retirement village in Hereford as developers fight to keep their proposal alive.
The scheme, for a retirement home and care facility at Faraday Road, was turned down two years ago by local planners because the derelict site had been earmarked by the council as employment land, ripe for commercial development.
Unable to identify an alternative site in the city, the company behind the scheme has now resubmitted plans claiming the development has the support of local residents and will generate 140 jobs for care professionals and associated staff.
Charles Collier of Bovale said: “Our design proposals are sympathetic to the setting and we have received widespread support for the redevelopment of the site for a care facility.
“Local residents are strongly in favour of the scheme and a number of local people have expressed interest in joining a waiting list for accommodation.
“The planning balance now lies between preserving a vacant employment site that has not received any commercial interest in the last two years, compared to the delivery of a scheme which provides acknowledged social service benefits in terms of accommodation and care for the elderly, whilst generating some 140 jobs and transforming a derelict brownfield site into a high quality, attractive living environment.”
The retirement village at Faraday Road would include 97 assisted living units, a 59-bed residential care centre, a 51-bed nursing home to provide 24 hour care and a wellbeing centre to provide health and beauty services such as massage, holistic therapies and hairdressing.
Mr Collier added: “We are delighted that the scheme has now been registered and will be considered over the next few months, we look forward to working positively with the planners to achieve a successful outcome.”