Planning changes demanded as elderly care plans are rejected

The calls for change come after proposals for a multi-million pound housing development for hundreds of pensioners in rural North Yorkshire were rejected by Hambleton District Council planning committee.

Plans for the scheme, near the village of Thornton-le-Moor, had provoked strong opposition from residents, who were angered by the scale of the development and feared traffic tailbacks. Refusal was recommended by council officers.

But with 50 per cent more people aged over 65 expected to be living in North Yorkshire by 2020, campaigners say there needs to be greater flexibility to help deal with this population boom.

Alex Bird, chief officer for Age Concern North Yorkshire, said: "One of the challenges in North is its rural areas and the isolation of its population.

"That means we have pockets where it has been difficult to access support and care.

"There needs to be a change in what we are going to need in the future.

"Traditionally the needs of older people are not seen as a high priority.

"There needs to be a joining of minds.

"Traditionally the planning departments have certain criteria they work to, but with the growing needs of older people we are increasingly going to need these criteria to be more flexible.

"There are going to be different needs in the community that were not such a high priority a few years ago.

"The demographic changes in North Yorkshire show there is going to be a growing number of people aged over 80."

Judy Bell, who put forward the plans for the Thornton-Le-Moor development, said she had been told by North Yorkshire County Council that it anticipates there will be a need for some 1,800 additional units of care over the next eight years.

Mrs Bell, who runs the Shepherd's Purse cheese company in Thirsk, said: "There simply isn't enough accommodation for elderly people.

"There is a huge need for it in this area as well.

"The growth of the elderly population is a time-bomb waiting to happen.

"This is not a money-making scheme for us, it is something we feel very passionate about, we can see what is going to happen when more care is needed in the future and we want to do something about it.

"Projects like this are being developed in other parts of the country and we need to change the way we approach this in North Yorkshire as well."

Mrs Bell says she plans to appeal against the decision to reject her scheme which would have included 100 independent extra-care living units and 50 assisted living units beside social, medical, fitness and community facilities.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire County Council said: "Looking ahead to the future and taking account of the increasing numbers of older people in our North Yorkshire communities, the increasing numbers with dementia and the numbers of adults with disability and long-term conditions wanting to live away from home, we anticipate that there will be a need for some 1,800 additional units of care required over the next eight years.

"This care requirement is not here at present but we do need to plan ahead.

"Fewer of these may be delivered in the form of traditional residential or nursing care.

"However there will be opportunities for new developments offering a range of care solutions to people who need accommodation with care."