Care home could reopen if redevelopment approved
The care home has been vacant since 2017
- Published
A care home in West Yorkshire which has been vacant for seven years could be brought back into use if planners give it the go-ahead.
Hollycroft Care Home on Hebers Ghyll Drive in Ilkley, which has been empty since 2017, was bought by Barchester Healthcare in 2021.
The company had hoped to demolish the building and construct a modern care home in its place, but the plan was refused by Bradford Council, with officers saying the work would harm a conservation area.
The firm has since submitted a revised plan to redevelop the existing site.
Barchester Healthcare's new plan would see modern extensions to the building demolished and replaced with ones which are more "sympathetic" to the local area.
It then proposes to reopen the facility as a 20-bedroom care home.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the company said the development would create up to 40 jobs.
The application says: “The new extension and redevelopment of the existing care home will be constructed and serviced to a very high standard and we believe will bring measurable benefits to the local community, which is respectful of its setting and neighbouring properties."
'Hotel' environment
It adds: “The applicant aims to bring the care home and site back into use and again integrate with the local community to help meet the overwhelming and growing need for this type of accommodation within the local and the wider area."
"Care homes should be homely and resemble quality hotels as opposed to a cramped guest house or institutional environment.
“The existing care home has evolved from a former single dwelling and is no longer fit for purpose.”
A decision is expected to be made next month.
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