Vision for '˜care village' near Broadbridge Heath revealed

The Rapkyns estate off Guildford Road includes a 45-bed nursing home, a centre providing special care for young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities, and a soon to be opened special school for pupils with complex autism.

Now Sussex Health Care, which claims to be the third largest employer in the Horsham district, is looking to build a ‘care village’ on the Rapkyns site alongside the existing facilities.

This would include more care home beds, extra care flats, a new health centre, pharmacy, minor treatment unit, workplace nursery, and community centre.

According to an outline application submitted to Horsham District Council: “All parts of the new village would be linked by a network of wide, graded, landscaped paths, connecting back to the existing Rapkyns estate.

“The existing minibus service offers connection to other Sussex Health Care sites, local villages and Horsham town centre for access to wider community services and public transport links.

“The care village would provide a unique and genuinely inclusive way for families to stay together and receive support through all stages of their care needs.”

The 42-bed special care unit would be split into four wings with en-suite shower rooms, shared lounges, dining and activity rooms, nurses’ stations and drug stores, along with a central hub with extra facilities.

The unit would also include 32 bed spaces for essential resident nursing and care staff in the roofspace, along with a flat for visiting families to stay overnight.

The plans also include a 74-bed care home, mostly split across eight linked single-storey pavilions, a 52-space nursery, GP surgery, and three ten-bed special care units alongside eight beds for staff.

Residents have already written to the council objecting to the plans.

One raised safety concerns on the A281 and described the ‘sheer size and position’ as ‘totally wrong in a multitude of ways’, while another called the development ‘entirely inappropriate and unnecessary’.

To comment visit HDC’s website using code DC/16/2807.

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