Locals and a councillor raised concerns about plans for the care home, which would also have a hair salon, cinema, and shop
Plans to build an 80-bed care home in Peterborough have been approved despite concerns raised by locals and a councillor.
The proposed three-storey building would be located on land north of Elm Friars Close in Stanground, creating around 90 jobs.
Hoama Group Ltd, which submitted the planning application to Peterborough City Council in March, is a family business that has run care homes in the south east for 30 years.
According to the application, the new Stanground care home would feature a range of communal spaces, a hair and beauty salon, library/games room, cinema and bar area, and a shop selling small gifts. It would also see 37 car parking spaces provided, including three disabled spaces.
The applicant stated that the development would provide a “high-quality, energy efficient” care home which met best practice in dementia care.
A decision was made by city council planners on December 11 to grant planning permission for the care home. This came despite 13 objections from local residents as well as ward councillor Chris Harper.
Cllr Harper said: “I accept a previous application for a similar height building was deemed OK in the past but I didn’t agree with that decision then and all feel, as do many residents, that a three story building is just too high and will prove to be overpowering for the neighbouring two-story homes and bungalows that surround it leading to some having to look at a large building whilst feeling their homes and gardens are being overlooked.”
He also claimed that the care home would create more pressure on “already failing local medical facilities”. Residents raised concerns around scale and over-development.
Planning officers said it had been demonstrated that the height of the proposal, including the plant enclosure on the roof, would be similar to a previously permitted scheme.
“As such officers would not deem the proposal to have a bulk or form that would be wholly at odds with the character and appearance of the area,” the case officer report stated.
It also added that the the applicant had confirmed it would be prepared to contribute £34,805 towards the NHS, which would go towards existing primary healthcare within the local area.
The construction of the care home can now begin subject to 22 conditions imposed by planners.
