Plans for new care home complex in Houghton, creating 40 jobs

Earlier in 2020, proposals were lodged for a new care facility at Bunker Hill in the Copt Hill ward.

According to planning documents, the site was previously occupied by the Philadelphia Nursing Home before its closure and subsequent demolition.

Plans from the adjacent Springfield Care Home aim to establish a new centre on the vacant site, which is expected to create around 40 jobs.

If approved, the home would provide residential care and dementia and nursing care, offering 23 bedrooms at ground level and 27 bedrooms at first floor level.

The new complex would also include 29 parking spaces and landscaped gardens and a kitchen, with a laundry room and a hair salon on the lower ground floor level.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department have recommended the plans for approval, with a final decision expected next week.

A report prepared for councillors states the home is an “appropriate form of redevelopment of the site.”

It goes on to say: “The area surrounding the application site is residential in nature and as mentioned previously, the site was occupied by a 50-bed care home which has subsequently been demolished.

“Therefore it is considered that the redevelopment of the site for a 50-bed care home would be compatible with the land uses within the locality of the site.”

A design and access statement from the applicant, submitted to council planners in January 2020, also makes a case for the facility.

It reads: “This development offers the opportunity of providing a building of quality for Houghton-le-Spring, as well as providing much needed care and employment, as well as contributing substantially to the local community.

“The home will provide care for the elderly, those with dementia and most will require an element of nursing care. “

The council’s Planning and Highways (West) Committee will discuss the plans on Tuesday, October 27.

To watch live from 5.30pm, visit: https://youtu.be/_ytNNGfb8nE

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