Plan for 72-bed care home approved by councillors

A plan to build a new 72-bed care home in Chesterfield has been approved despite opposition from Derbyshire County Council.

Torsion Care Limited plans to build the facility - specialising in dementia care - on land off Factory Street, Brampton.

The county council had said the development was not needed and that there were numerous care home bed vacancies in the town.

Chesterfield Borough Council's planning committee approved the plans at a recent meeting.

The scheme includes an access route from Factory Street with 28 parking spaces, an ambulance bay, garden areas and a landscaping scheme.

The committee considered substantial flooding in the area during Storm Babet in October, when floodwater ran halfway along Factory Street from Chatsworth Road.

But the meeting heard the proposed site for the care home did not flood and the Environment Agency did not raise any objection, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Derbyshire County Council’s adult social care department opposed the scheme, and argued there was "no need for additional provision of care homes" in the Chesterfield area.

The department said there were 11 homes with a total of 477 beds, most of which have vacancies, and a recent report claimed there was an "oversupply of residential care" beyond 2040.

But Chesterfield Borough Council’s planning officers highlighted the need for "more specialist care for dementia patients".

The care home operator added it aimed to specialise in this area and that other available facilities were "not up to its expected standards".

Councillors also heard the applicant was donating £306,335 towards the regeneration of the nearby Grade II listed Walton Works.

Councillor Mick Brady said: "We have had grand schemes looked at, and they have never been agreed, and realistically, how long can we wait?

“I am going to support what’s been said by my colleagues. I am not particularly happy about it, and I wish it was different, but we have got to make a start on that area of the town.”

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