Public to be given say on plans for elderly care development

North Yorkshire County Council is to hold further public talks later this month on a design solution for the development at Lower Greenfoot, Settle

The latest proposals include a reduction in the height of the building and fewer apartments.

Proposals from the council to replace Lower Greenfoot home with purpose-built apartments, including some for people with dementia, have received a mixed response.

Detailed plans and an artist’s impression will be available for viewing on June 14 at the Royal Oak Hotel, Market Place, Settle.

The county council says it remains committed to the development, which will provide support tailored to the needs of people in the community, but has gone back to the drawing board after plans were rejected by Craven District Council’s planning committee.

Members of the partnership responsible for the project – the county council extra care team, Housing 21 who will own and manage the scheme, Shuttleworth Picknett and Associates Architects and Bramall Construction Ltd – will be on hand to talk to members of the public at the June meeting from 2pm until 7pm.

They will be able to speak about costs, welfare benefits, apartments for sale, the level of care and support that will be provided and the timescale for development.

People attending the meeting will also have the opportunity to put forward and record their views about the scheme.

Funding was agreed at a meeting of the county council executive last year. At that meeting members also agreed to further investigate the possibilities for four more similar schemes in Craven, Richmondshire, Hambleton and Harrogate costing more than £5m.

Council chiefs say that the centre will offer care services that allow people to carry on living in their own homes and if a time comes when this is no longer possible they can resettle in the centre’s purpose-built accommodation.

It will offer support to those living with dementia, physical disability and mobility impairment and will also include a restaurant, hair and beauty salon, shop, community library, memory clinic, wellbeing clinic and meeting room which will be available for hire by the community.

The revised Greenfoot scheme will enable the top floor that was proposed for one wing of the building to be removed, in line with the planning committee’s recommendations.

Care will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week so that emergency, planned and unplanned care and support can be provided.

There will be a change to the number and size of apartments, with 50 now being built instead of 60, although a minimum of 40 per cent will be “affordable either for rent or shared ownership.”

Derek Law, corporate director for adult and community services said: “North Yorkshire County Council and our partners remain committed to this groundbreaking project despite this setback and have been working hard to seek a solution to take back to Craven District Council’s planners and planning committee.

“We hope these revised plans will resolve any outstanding objections.

“This is a tremendous project, absolutely at the cutting edge of where social care should be going. What authorities like North Yorkshire County Council are doing is commissioning services tailor-made to the needs of local people in their own communities.

“By facilitating an extensive support structure of this kind, we can help people to live independent lives in their own homes for much longer. If and when a time comes when living at home is no longer practicable, they will be able to resettle in a purpose-built facility on their own doorstep,” Mr Law added.