New 66-bed care home approved for Chichester
Plans to build a three-storey, 66-bedroom care home in Chichester have been approved unanimously by the district council.
The application from LNT Care Developments & Hanbury Properties (Chichester) Ltd, for land south of Longacres Way, in the Shopwyke Lakes area, was given the nod by the planning committee on Wednesday (September 9).
To be operated by Crystal Care Collection, the home will cater for the fragile elderly, low-level dementia patients and offer respite care. As well as providing a mix of individual bedrooms with en-suite wet rooms, it will include a hair salon, cinema, lounges, dining rooms, café and bar, clinic, garden room and family rooms.
The development will also have ground source heat pumps and solar panels.
The council received a handful of objections to the plans, including from Oving Parish Council. Concerns raised included the proposed design of the building, its impact on the character of the area, parking, and whether a third care home in the area was even needed.
But Jo Kemp, representing LNT Care Developments, said that, by 2028, there would be a need for 264 spaces in the four-mile catchment area of the new care home.
She told the meeting: “As operators, we wouldn’t develop somewhere where we didn’t think there was a need for a new home.”
Ms Kemp added that there would be parking for 30 vehicles, which was ‘standard for a home of this size’. The busiest times of day would see no more than 24 members of staff on duty, with shifts staggered to avoid busy change-overs. Most visitors were expected to arrive during the evening, when fewer staff would be working and more parking spaces would be available.
The care home is expected to create up to 60 jobs.
To view the application, log onto publicaccess.chichester.gov.uk and search for 26/00728/FUL.