Plans for care home ‘in the wrong place’ to be decided by Preston Council this week

Town Hall chiefs say that the proposed development, on land off Sandy Lane in Lower Bartle, should really be in a local centre with shops and other community facilities, not in a field next to the M55 motorway.

But because it will bring care home beds to the north west of Preston to meet a predicted demand over the next 15 years, councillors will be recommended to approve it when it goes before the city's planning committee on Thursday.

Developer DOS Ltd has applied for permission to build the U-shaped home in three adjoining blocks - one of 2.5 storeys and the others two storeys tall. Plans show the facility will provide a range of care services including nursing care and specialist dementia care. The building will have a number of dining rooms, a tea room, a salon, a library and a cinema room for residents. Access will be from Sandy Lane.

Initial plans have been amended after consultation with council planning officers. Concerns raised over "safe and suitable" access because of a lack of footpaths and street lighting at the location. There were also worries raised over the provision of just 18 car parking spaces at the home for up to 90 staff.

Woodplumpton Parish Council said it welcomed a care home "rather than more housing" in the area. But it raised concerns over parking and whether public transport would be adequate for staff on shift working. But the biggest concern highlighted by council officers was the location and whether the care home should really be sited in a local centre according to the North West Preston Masterplan.

An officer report to be presented to the planning committee says: "A residential care home would be considered a community use and should therefore be located in a local centre. The NWP Masterplan expects health and community-based services to be located in local centres which have been planned in accessible locations.

"This application site is not located in or within close proximity to an identified local centre, but is located on the edge of one. The provision of a care home in the location proposed is therefore considered to conflict with local planning policy and the NWP Masterplan."

A needs assessment report on care home services in the future, submitted by the developers, says that while there is currently an over-supply of care home beds in Preston, there will be a need for 89 beds by 2043 "based on the projected increase in the aged population" in the city.

A council report compiled in 2022 has identified a need for as many as 833 care home beds by 2038 (amounting to 46 every year). And officers say: "Given this identified need, the provision of a care home providing 89 beds, or 10.6 per cent of this need, would provide moderate weight in favour of the proposal." Therefore the application is recommended for approval.