Care home plan approved for former pub site in Telford
A care home will be built on the site of a former pub after councillors granted planning permission.
The Dun Cow, in Dawley, closed in 2008 and was demolished a year later. Earlier this year Bondcare 5 Ltd applied to build a 77-bedroom care home on the site.
Telford & Wrekin Council planning committee members expressed concern that the 19 parking spaces promised would not be enough and that the developer’s claim their design was the only one that was viable “put pressure” on the council, but went on to approve the proposal unanimously.
Blueprints show a three-storey U-shaped complex with an east-facing courtyard on the 3,400-square-metre Duce Drive site.
Planning officers advised the committee to approve the proposal.
Their report said: “The ground floor would incorporate the entrance foyer, two day rooms and the offices and associated ancillary facilities such as kitchen and laundry.
“The remainder of the ground floor will be bedrooms and communal bathrooms. Floors two and three both have three dayrooms and a hairdresser’s is also proposed.”
The report added: “The proposals include the provision of 19 car parking spaces, including two disabled spaces.”
It said Telford & Wrekin Local Plan policies say buildings of that type should have one space per four resident berths and one more per staff member.
For this project, which the developer says will generate 30 full-time jobs, “this results in a requirement for 49 spaces”.
But, the report said, the company submitted evidence arguing it was not possible or necessary to provide the full complement.
“Firstly, the applicant explains that the uplift in car parking requirements would result in the scheme becoming unviable as the number of bedrooms would need to be reduced to accommodate the additional parking,” the report says.
Furthermore, it added, London-based Bondcare surveyed 1,239 of its staff about their commuting habits.
“Just under 50 per cent arrive by car, just over 20 per cent by bus and a further 20 per cent walk,” the report said.
“Approximately 72 per cent of staff are employed from a five-mile radius of the care home.
“Only around 41 per cent park their car at work, with around 58 per cent parking elsewhere or not using a car.”
Applying those figures, the Dawley care home staff would need 32, not 49, spaces; 13 for staff and 19 for residents and visitors. To mitigate the remaining 13-space shortfall, the planning department ordered Bondcare to implement a “workplace travel plan”.
Councillor Kuldip Sahota: “Developers do sometimes come in and say ‘If you don’t give in, it’s unviable and we’re going to walk away’. There’s pressure they put on our officers.”
Councillor Nigel Dugmore said: “We have just announced a big expansion of Telford Langley School, and this particular application has 60 per cent less parking than it should do.
“That’s my biggest concern, especially at school pick-up and drop-off times.”
An extension, housing 14 classrooms and other facilities, was green-lit by the committee in the summer. The Telford Langley School is less than 100 metres from the former pub site.
