Suffolk patients with life-limiting illnesses and their families are set to benefit from a new resource centre after planners gave the green light.

East Anglian Daily Times: An artist's impression of cross-section of the Pear Tree Centre. Picture: LSI ARCHITECTSAn artist's impression of cross-section of the Pear Tree Centre. Picture: LSI ARCHITECTS (Image: Archant)

Halesworth Community Nursing Care Fund (HCNCF) has been granted permission to build the £710,000 Pear Tree Centre, offering information and support to people with illnesses including cancer.

The charity is now seeking contractors to build the new facility on land next to Cutlers Hill Surgery in Halesworth.

It will feature space for support groups to meet, a counselling room, small library and a comfortable area where people can relax and get information. A therapy room, where patients can receive complementary treatments such as Reiki and massage, will also be included, along with a landscaped garden.

People from north east Suffolk or south Norfolk with life-limiting illnesses, as well as their families and carers, will be able to use the centre.

It aims to help people understand a diagnosis and provide information and advice on issues such as finance, benefits and coping with bereavement.

The project has been made possible through fundraising efforts supported by local people. The building was originally granted planning permission in November 2016, but a change in the shape of the plot of land available to the charity meant the proposal needed to be revised.

The new scheme has the same internal layout with a new access road added and changes made to the position of the building and the car park.

Rachel Booth, co-chair of the Pear Tree Centre project, said: “We are really pleased that we have secured planning permission for our revised scheme. It marks the start of the next phase of this exciting project and brings our dream of creating this important centre one step closer to becoming a reality.

“The next stage will be to begin a tender process and appoint a contractor to complete the building work.

“Once more, our thanks go to everyone who has so generously supported our fundraising drive. The Pear Tree Centre will be a really valuable facility and we hope it will benefit thousands of people living in the rural areas surrounding Halesworth.”

Visit www.halesworthhealth.org/information-and-support-centre for more information about the project, or to make a donation.