A MASTERPLAN to regenerate an area of Stafford will see old buildings make way for new housing and leisure facilities.
Existing and former care homes and educational facilities on land off Stone Road will be demolished to make way for new housing.
The site will provide sheltered housing, affordable housing, a 59-bed specialist dementia care home, shops, restaurants, pubs and bars along with other leisure facilities.
The proposals, submitted b\y Staffordshire County Council, will replace existing and former health and care buildings including Northfields Care Home, Foxwalls Residential Home, a learning disabilities residential home on Co-operative Street, Stafford day services, Leighfields Hostel and an adult training centre.
A new health centre with a pharmacy and separate public, private and semi private sections will replace the nearby Browning Street practice which serves 9,500 patients.
Many of the buildings on the site are vacant, although some are still in use, but residents will be relocated to new housing.
The scheme will be built in four phases with housing for people with learning disabilities in the first tranche.
Phase two will see 80 self-contained homes for the elderly built. Once the dementia unit is built it will replace the Foxwalls residential home which will be decommissioned so phase three can begin.
The final phase will see the construction of the health and well being centre. It will be built by Galliford Try with parts of the site operated by the Wrekin Housing Trust. It is hoped it will be finished by March 2015 in order to retain funding from the Homes and Communities Agency.
The council’s design statement says: “The concept revolves around the community hub principle. The hub sits at the heart of the scheme providing a focal point for the community and servicing a varied range of community needs.
“The development and, in particular, the construction of the community hub and its shared use by residents of the extra care housing and the wider community also promotes opportunities for meetings between members of the community who might not otherwise come into contact with each other.
“The redevelopment of the site will create employment opportunities during the construction process and in the longer term through the employment of care workers, cleaners, catering staff, caretakers, etc.
The regeneration benefits of visually improving the area will also improve working conditions, which, in turn, will support economic growth. This will benefit the local economy through attracting further inward investment.”
