Plans have been drawn up to turn a Richmondshire care home into residential housing.
An application has been submitted to Richmondshire District Council to convert parts of Scorton Care Village into 23 homes.
The owners of the care home have stressed that the facility will remain open and it’s unused parts of the site which will become housing.
Of these properties, 13 would be townhouses, six would be flats and four would be cottages, according to the plans.
Part of the existing care home, which was previously a hospital, would be demolished to make way for the housing.
Documents submitted with the application state that the site is currently designated as a “vacant care home”, adding: “The proposal ensures the retention of the majority of the existing structure, whilst the main demolition comes from the various added on outbuildings of a lower architectural quality, the interior of the main structural unit will be altered to suit the new layout.”
The report says the area for the proposed development “comprises an abundance of built-up units of existing care facilities and associated outbuildings”.
It adds: “The focal point of the site is the existing 1912 former care facility which is cocooned by a number of low-quality modern additions, most of which will be demolished as part of the proposals, and a chapel, which is proposed for conversion as part of the development.
“There is a central green open space upon entrance to the site, the proposed site layout utilises and enhances the existing green courtyard through the reduction of parking and addition of front gardens to properties to retain the welcoming vocal point to the complex.”
Planners say the proposal would ensure that the footprint of the buildings would be reduced overall “in a positive design decision to increase openness and space for the residents that will be moving into the various dwellings, whilst providing parking spaces and garden spaces for the associated apartments”.
“The proposal will also improve the overall aesthetics of the surrounding area due to the building currently being unoccupied, and therefore it is predicted that the continual degradation of this space.”
The site was previously run as a hospital by the Hospitaller Order of St John of God for 120 years.
However, it was announced in 2002 that the hospital would close and a new buyer found for the building.
The hospital had shut its acute services amid controversy the previous year to concentrate on nursing the elderly, dementia sufferers and adults with complex care needs.
For more details on the application, click here.
