Expansion plans in for Sunderland care home in bid to boost bedroom numbers and improve facilities

Earlier this year, Sunderland City Council’s planning department received an application for the Thornbury Care Centre off Thorndale Road in the Sandhill ward of the city.

This included building extension works to boost the care centre’s bedroom numbers and a dayroom extension to provide an additional dining room facility.

In addition, alterations were proposed to the existing car park layout alongside landscaping works.

Planning documents submitted to local authority officials said the development would boost capacity at the site providing an additional 18 ensuite bedrooms for “new residents on the waiting list”.

A submitted design and access statement adds: “A total of 62 ensuite bedrooms will be available in the fully refurbished care home when the scheme has been fully implemented.

“The local communities of Grindon and Thorney Close where there is a large residential population will benefit from this facility where there is always a requirement for additional bed spaces for the elderly and infirm in a well run comfortable modern care home.”

Plans state the care centre is fully occupied and is presently being refurbished after being taken over by a new owner.

Redevelopment plans for the site also include a new lift and extending the car park by two spaces.

The design and access statement notes the present car park is “underused” with most visitors and staff living locally and walking or travelling by bus, and that visitors with cars tend to park on an adjacent street.

The design and access statement adds: “The average number of cars using the present car park is approximately five.

“The proposed parking provision of 14 spaces is therefore considered to be more than adequate to cover the future parking requirements of the new extended care home of 62 residents and its staff.”

A decision on the planning application will be made later this year once a period of council consultation has concluded.

For more information on the care centre scheme, visit Sunderland City Council’s online planning portal and search for reference: 22/01623/FUL