Care home plan agreed despite 'big lump' objection

Joe Griffin,Local Democracy reporter and
Shariqua Ahmed
News imageHoama Group An artist's impression image of the new care home building, a large T-shaped structure surrounded by homes and greenery on one side, taken from a drone.Hoama Group
The new Stanground care home is expected to create 90 jobs

A plan for a new 80-bed care home in Peterborough has been approved despite claims it would be a "big lump".

Stanground councillor Chris Harper said he was "not against the care home" but he voiced concerns that the three-storey building on land north of Elm Friars Close would be "too tall and overpowering" for the area.

The proposal includes a hair and beauty salon, a library room, a cinema and a shop.

Planning officers said they did not think the building would be at odds with the character and appearance of the area, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The application said the development would provide a "high-quality, energy efficient" care home which met best practice in dementia care.

Harper, who is also the leader of the Peterborough First group on the council, said: "I just think in this particular area it is too tall, too big and too overpowering.

"What it is doesn't matter. It's the fact that it's a big lump."

He also claimed the care home would create more pressure on "already failing local medical facilities".

But a case officer report said the proposed height of the building would be similar to a previously permitted scheme.

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