A FORMER private school in Bromsgrove is set to be bulldozed to make way for a huge care home following a successful planning appeal.
Last April, Bromsgrove District Council’s planning committee refused plans to knock down the former Mount School on Birmingham Road and build a 72-bedroom care home.
However, applicant Leo Bromsgrove Ltd appealed the council’s decision and it was referred to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, who following a hearing held on January 11, has granted planning permission for the development.
The former Mount School sits on green belt land and is a three-storey Victorian building which is now used as an office by a health and safety training provider.
The school is surrounded by outbuildings which are ‘dilapidated’- which will also be knocked down.
The council turned down the plans as it was considered ‘inappropriate development on green belt land’ and would result in the ‘demolition of a non-designated heritage asset’ and its loss had not been ‘fully justified’.
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The Planning Inspectorate disagreed and stated in his report: “Whilst the proposal would harm the historic environment insofar as the non-designated heritage asset would be lost, this loss has been fully justified and I consider it to be acceptable when balanced against the public benefits of the proposal.
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“I have found that whilst the development would be inappropriate development in the green belt, the other considerations in this case clearly outweigh the harm that I have identified.
"Looking at the case as a whole, I consider that very special circumstances exist which justify the development.”
The care home will include communal amenity areas, an extensive resident garden and 20 plus parking spaces.
The building will include facilities such as dining rooms, lounges, a hair salon, a cinema, family rooms, balconies, and clinics.
Burghley Care (part of Torsion Care) has entered an agreement to deliver the scheme and will employ around 50 full-time and 50 part-time employees.
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