Care home for Crown Closures site is approved (despite “poor” design)

REVISED plans for a care home on the site of a former Hamworthy packaging factory have been approved.Despite criticising the “poor” design of the building, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council planners granted planning permission for the 68-bed facility.Barchester Healthcare says the care home on the former Crown Closures factory site would help tackle an “undersupply” of beds and create up to 120 jobs.Permission for a 66-bed care home on the Crown Closures plot was given by Poole council when it approved the wider development.However, a new scheme for a larger 68-bed facility which the national care provider says will make more efficient use of the land.Approved in March last year, Barratt Homes’ application allows for 104 houses and a 66-bed care home to be built on the site.It was submitted following the closure of Crown Closures in 2015The latest application for a larger, three-storey care home building was put forward at the end of last year.However, people living nearby have raised concerns that only 24 parking spaces would be provided.Despite this, the scheme was approved on Tuesday by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole planning officer James Gilfillan.