UNVEILED: PLANS FOR RETIREMENT HOMES AT OLD SERVICE STATION SITE... BUT NOT EVERYONE IS HAPPY
But critics fear added traffic – and say there’s no demand for such homes
PLANS for a retirement home complex at an old Ashbourne service station have been unveiled by developers – sparking reactions from some saying it is not what the town needs.
Mccarthy and Stone has revealed impressions and blueprints for their new investment at Dove Service Station in Mayfield Road. The initial proposals were put to the public at a forum in Elim Church in Waterside Retail Park off Clifton Road last Wednesday.
This was to allow the public to view the plans and provide feedback before the developer submits an application.
Some residents feared that the development would bring more traffic to the area.
But the planning manager for the company said that the development would actually ease traffic in the town instead of worsen it.
Bosses plan to build nearly 50 retirement homes on the two-acre site, including 16 one-bedroom apartments and 21 two-bedroom apartments.
Homeowners and visitors will have access to 27 car parking spaces.
There will also be six twobedroom cottages and seven two-bedroom bungalows with private car parking.
The properties will be tailored for over-60s and will be owned, not rented, by the residents.
External maintenance and gardening will be done by workers, and the complex will feature lifts to all the floors, a camera entry system, a house manager, guest suite and landscaped communal gardens.
Pets will be allowed and the development will even have mobility scooter storage space with charge points.
Neil Martyn, Mccarthy and Stone’s planning manager for the East Midlands, said: “This is suited to meet the growing demands that there are in Ashbourne.
“This is a good site, close to the town centre and convenient. And there will be a number of different types of properties – cottages, apartments and bungalows.”
Concerns were raised by some Ashbourne residents that more retirement housing was not needed in the town.
News Telegraph readers took to Facebook when we first revealed the plans were to be made public – with many suggesting the properties would be hard to sell. They said they would prefer to see starter homes for first-time buyers.
Dawn Routledge said: “There’s always retirement properties up for sale in Ashbourne, especially at Chatsworth Court.
“They don’t seem to resell very well. Ashbourne needs more affordable housing and social housing for rent.”
Helen Milhinch said: “If Ashbourne becomes a ‘retirement town’ with all these old folk dwellings, where will the young and middle-aged live?
“Who is going to employ the number of care providers needed for an ageing population, when they’ve all moved away to affordable housing elsewhere?”
But Mr Martyn said: “There is definitely a need and the statistics are quite mind blowing. There are 11.8 million people aged 65 or over in the UK, which is predicted to rise to 17.3m by 2037 (a 47 per cent increase). For those aged 85 or over, the increase will be larger, from 1.6m to 3.0m, representing an 88 per cent increase.
“One in four over 60s are interested in retirement living, but only around 162,000 units of specialist retirement housing for homeowners have been built. We would not be developing there if there was not a market for it.”
There were also fears that traffic would worsen in the town as a result of the development. Mr Martyn added: “The level of traffic for this type of development is very low.
“After it is complete, it will make much lower levels of traffic than it is as a service station.
“There will be some traffic while it is being constructed, of course, but it will be better once it is complete. And the benefits to the community are clear. It will also help to free up houses that could be used by other people.”
Matt Wills, regional managing director of Mccarthy and Stone, said: “We would like to thank everyone who took the time to attend our public exhibition and provide feedback on our proposals. We are delighted to have received a positive early response from the community for our proposals which will meet a growing need for specialist housing for older people in Ashbourne.
“Our proposals seek to complement the existing architecture within the town, while also redeveloping a brownfield site.”
An application for the redevelopment of the site with apartments and townhouses was approved back in 2017, but nothing has come of it until now.
● Comment: P12