Care village proposed on edge of market town

A care home development including five bungalows is being proposed for land in Romanby

A "care village" could be developed on the edge of a North Yorkshire market town if planning is approved by the local council.

Developer Torsion Care wants to build a 70-bed care home and five bungalows on land situated off Boroughbridge Road, in Romanby, Northallerton.

The contractor has filed initial details of the development with North Yorkshire Council, ahead of a full planning application being submitted at a later stage.

Plans state the scheme would provide "high-quality care facilities for the local population, reducing strain on the capacity of existing health services".

"The overall design strategy for the proposed development is to create a market-leading care village," said Jacob Parker-Henry, from the architectural consultants Spawforths, who are assessing any flood risk on behalf of Torsion Care.

He said the care village would "make use of an underutilised site which has strong development potential" with research showing there was a demand for "an additional 268 care-home bed spaces within a five-mile radius of the site".

The site of a proposed new care village in Romanby, Northallerton

Mr Parker-Henry added: "The catchment area covers a population of 27,463 people, and 3.9% of these are aged 85 years plus, which is 1.2% higher than the national average.

"Furthermore, the percentage of disability allowance claimants aged 65 years plus is 13.9%, which is 1.4% higher than the national average."

Mr Parker-Henry said statistics showed there were only four existing care home facilities within Northallerton and Romanby, with an additional facility located in Leeming Bar.

In addition, the opening of the care village would help to free up existing housing stock in the area, he surmised.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has been unable to contact anyone at Torsion Care to discuss the scheme.

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