Work on new care home to start next year
WORK to build a new multi-millionpound care home in a Derbyshire village is set to start early next year.
The 40-bed home is to be built on the former Ormiston Academy site in Bennerley Avenue, Cotmanhay, near Ilkeston.
Derbyshire County Council has confirmed that construction work on the new home, which will cost in the region of £13 million, is due to get under way in late January.
Once complete, the new development will replace the ageing Hazelwood Home for Older People, in Skeavingtons Lane, half a mile from the new site.
Designs for the new home have been drawn up by architects Glancy Nicholls to the highest dementia-friendly standards.
The two-storey building will house 40 bedrooms, each with an en-suite accessible bathroom. Each of the two wings will have its own lounge, dining area and activity room.
There will be communal spaces with a hairdresser, occupational therapy and treatment rooms and a guest room.
Outside there will be garden terraces and seating areas for residents and their families to enjoy and raised beds forming an allotment that residents can tend. Plans for the site also include a multi-use sports pitch for community use.
Building work, being carried out by Wates Construction Ltd, is expected to take two years, with current Hazelwood residents given the option to move to the new purpose-built development once it is completed.
Councillor Jean Wharmby, the county council’s cabinet member for adult social care, said: “I am delighted that we will soon be able to start work on a modern new home to replace Hazelwood Home for Older People.
“This purpose-built new home will provide airy, spacious surroundings with modern facilities such as en suite toilets to ensure our residents are living in accommodation that is fit for their needs.
“We remain committed to helping older people in Derbyshire lead dignified and fulfilled lives which is why we’re proposing to develop local alternatives or investing in our homes which require major repairs to make them fit for the 21st century.
“Now we are working on further plans to encourage developers to come and build new homes in line with our accommodation strategy, which will also help to boost Derbyshire’s postCovid economy.”