A new 60-bed care home in Newmarket which has been approved by council planners “will ensure elderly people can be cared for close to family and friends”, according to the developer.
Plans for the home at Kininvie on Fordham Road were accepted by Forest Heath District Council’s development control committee on Wednesday night.
After a tied six-all vote, Rona Burt, chairman of the committee, used her casting vote to grant consent for the care home as recommended by planners.
A previous application by applicants Churchgate Newmarket Ltd for a 63-bed three-storey home was rejected in June on the grounds of size, massing and over development.
A further application for a 60-bed home was submitted by Churchgate in September.
Newmarket Town Council objected to the application, citing issues such as overlooking/loss of privacy, highway safety, traffic and parking problems, impact on the community and other services, and impact on GP surgeries.
Churchgate said the new application was submitted following consultation with Forest Heath District Council planning officers and took into account feedback from the committee and community.
It added that the care home responds to an established need for quality care facilities in the area.
Josh Woolliscroft, on behalf of Churchgate, said: “We are delighted that this application has now been accepted by the development control
committee – we feel this was the right decision.
“When built this care home will help to fill the estimated 138-bed shortfall in care home provision in Newmarket. It will ensure that elderly people can be cared for in a residential community close to family and friends.
“By working closely with planning and highways officers we have designed a quality scheme whose many benefits more than compensate for a negligible impact on neighbouring properties.”
Meanwhile at the same meeting, plans to turn Newmarket’s former police station into 12 apartments was unanimously agreed by councillors as recommended.
Outline planning permission was granted at the site on the corner of Lisburn Road and Vicarage Road in the town.
The apartments will be housed inside the existing redundant police building, together with associated parking, open space and landscaping including the removal of the existing garage/workshops.
Newmarket’s new shared police and fire station, in Willie Snaith Road, was officially opened in March.
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