Firm wants to build care home on former theme park

A 66-bed, three-storey care home could be built on the American Adventure theme park site if plans are approved

Plans for a care home on a former American-themed amusement park site have been submitted.

The 66-bed, three-storey home is part of a major redevelopment on the site of the American Adventure theme park, in Shipley, Derbyshire, which closed in 2007.

Developers said the setting, next to Shipley Lake, off Pit Lane, would include lounge areas, cafes and bars, a garden and garden room, library, shop, clinic and hair salon, and would create 43 new jobs.

Plans for a retirement complex, shops, businesses, a pub, hotel, a healthcare facility and 307 homes - of which 48 have already been occupied - were approved at the 114-acre (46-hectare) site in 2016.

The American Adventure closed in 2007 due to financial problems and falling visitor numbers

The theme park closed it doors due to financial problems and falling visitor numbers.

The planning application seeks to agree the design and layout of the care home, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It would take up half the area assigned for the retirement complex in the approved outline plans.

Applicants LNT Care Developments and Waystone Developments have submitted the plans to Amber Valley Borough Council.

The developers described the care home as "contemporary and innovative" with "ambitious sustainability/renewable energy goals", aiming to "facilitate a higher quality of life for residents than most conventionally designed facilities".

A report submitted with the application details an "undersupply" of 75 care home beds in the surrounding three-mile area.

It also details a further assessment, which highlights a need to create 27 new residential care beds each year in the borough.

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