Second care home planned within yards of Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Club

A scheme to construct a 60-bed facility next door to the 74-room Hulton House goes before the city's planning committee tomorrow.

Peter Evans of Fulwood Limited, a company based in the Isle of Man, has applied to build the new home on scrubland between the rugby club's first team pitch and Lightfoot Lane.

Mr Evans is also a director of London and Manchester Healthcare which operates Hulton House and also Finney House in Deepdale.

The new home will be only yards from its neighbouring home which was opened just over two years ago on what was formerly an overspill car park for the rugby club.

Council officers are recommending the new care facility is approved subject to conditions,

The three/two storey building will also have a sensory garden and parking for 20 vehicles. It will employ 30 full-time staff.

A design statement to be presented to the planning committee on behalf of Fulwood Ltd says the final designs have been submitted after consultations with the city council and Grasshoppers.

It says the final draft has considered concerns raised by the proposal and addressed them.

Only one letter of objection to the care home was received, citing worries about overlooking, loss of light, claims that the plot is too narrow making egress difficult and the fact that there is already a care home right next door.

An officer's report says: "The proposed development would contribute to the provision of community and health care facilities in the area, although the proposal would be a private residential care home (health care facility) for older people rather than a community use open to all age groups of the wider area."

The new home would boast a coffee and library area, hairdressers, cinema rooms, IT/games room, hobbies rooms and sensory hubs.