New care home on outskirts of Preston could create 70 jobs say developers

But developers say that if passed by the city council the facility will not be ready for residents until 2025 "at the very earliest."

A sizeable shortfall in the number of care places available in the Preston area is cited as the overriding reason for building the state-of-the-art home in Sandy Lane, Lower Bartle.

A planning report submitted to the council with the application says the shortfall in the North West of Preston alone would be into the hundreds by 2025. It adds that the project now before the council has been reduced considerably from a much larger scheme following talks with the city council.

The care home, which will be a two-storey 'U' shaped building, is expected to create 40 full-time jobs and 30 part-time. It will offer 4,761 square metres of floor space on a piece of agricultural land almost double that size. The home will have 18 parking spaces and all bedrooms will have wet room en-suite bathrooms.

The report says: "There are a number of care homes within the Preston area that have been created from large houses and as a result offer accommodation of verifying quality and scale. The proposal is to create a bespoke care facility that will offer the highest level of accommodation available locally."

It describes the area in the north west of the city as one where there is a "high demand for care home services." It is in an area where up to 5,300 new homes are currently being built.