Retirement development plans for garden centre site set for refusal

A proposed development of retirement living accommodation on the site of a garden centre on the outskirts of Sheffield looks set to hit a setback with plans recommended for refusal next week (5 March 2024).Inspired Villages – Senior Living (Dore) Ltd, supported by DLP Planning and Urban Edge, submitted plans to Sheffield City Council in December 2022 for the demolition of Dore Moor Garden Centre and development of an integrated retirement community (IRC) comprising up to 125 extra care units.The hybrid application seeks full planning permission for the ‘Village Centre’ building, and a number of cottages, apartments and bungalows.The ‘Village Centre’ would feature 24 extra care units on the first and second floors. The ground floor would provide the main communal facilities, including a café and shop, restaurant, meeting and activity space, two treatment rooms and a hair salon, alongside the village wellbeing facilities (comprising a gym, fitness studio and a spa pool).The detailed element of the scheme also includes 30 apartments, five bungalows and four cottages.Outline planning permission is also sought for up to 62 extra care units (C2) with ancillary communal space, landscaping and associated works.A total of 136 car parking spaces would be provided, arranged in clusters across the site and as undercroft parking below the ‘Village Centre’. Cycle storage is also proposed.It has been estimated that the development could generate up to 56 on-going net jobs. The total cost of construction has been estimated at £44m, with 243 net direct construction jobs created.The council has received 357 letters in support of the plans, with the council saying that the majority of these had been submitted through a third party named Just Build Homes.A total of 262 objections have been received, with the vast majority said to be from the immediate area and Dore.The application will go before the council’s planning and highways committee on 5 May. An officer’s report prepared for the meeting recommends that members refuse planning permission.The report said the proposed development “constitutes inappropriate development in the Green Belt”.It highlighted a number of potential benefits of the scheme, including contributing to meeting a shortfall in housing in Sheffield and economic benefits.However, it added: “The scale and mass of the proposals are wholly out of character with the surrounding area, creating a prominent urbanised development in this Green Belt location on the gateway to the Peak District National Park.”The proposal would have an unacceptable impact on the character of the area, the Area of High Landscape Value and the setting of the Peak District National Park. This would cause substantial harm.”