Concerns raised over proposed Thornbury care home 

Care home developers LNT Care Developments applied to South Gloucestershire Council in July to build a 66-bed residential home as part of the new Cleeve Park development.

Proposals also include building a cinema, a salon, two quiet lounges, two separate dining rooms, a cafe, a small shop, a library and reception area.

However, since then, repeated concerns about design of the scheme have been raised by SGC council officers, Thornbury Town Council as well as two residents. 

A SGC urban design council officer even labelled the plan as a 'poor design'. 

They previously said in late July: "Without doubt this is, in all likelihood, a pre-designed building that has been taken from another scheme and plonked on this site. 

"Elevation wise, I see some attempt to follow the design principles of the adjoining buildings but nothing that really inspires confidence that this key building will be anything other than average, certainly not beautiful."

Meanwhile, the town council referred to the designs as 'institutional in style'. 

They also added that the plans did 'not relate well to established residential housing' nearby and urged planners to use native trees.

A design review panel, hosted by independent experts Design West, was eventually launched in August which made several recommendations to LNT. 

As a result, plans have now been amended, including the relocation of the house to the east, extra landscaping and the car park has been reconfigured. 

Furthermore, the design has been modified to include canopies above doors 'to reflect the neighbouring dwellings,' 'brick detailing' as well as gable ends on the roof. 

The Gazette contacted LNT but it did not wish to provide a comment. 

However, after the panel, an LTN representative said in the application: "Hopefully these (changes) have gone some way to addressing the concerns raised whilst working within the existing site constraints and the added difficulty of being the last piece of the jigsaw. 

"Some comments made by the DRP have not been addressed within this scheme, these can be considered at a later stage if necessary."

The proposed care home is located in the middle of the Cleeve Park development, where housing developer Miller Homes is currently constructing 336 homes.

Planning permission was previously granted for the site at appeal in 2018 for 350 dwellings, 14 self-build dwellings and a 70-bed care home by planning inspectorate Clive Hughes. 

It came after SGC previously refused planning permission for the development in March 2017. 

You can view the application quoting P23/02022/F or see here - tinyurl.com/mptvst65
 

The proposed care home is located along Morton Way (Image: LNT Care Developments)