New Ellesmere Port care home and specialist care unit planned

Seddon Developments has submitted to the proposal, which would be on 1.3 hectares of land off Lloyd Drive, Cheshire Oaks, to Cheshire West and Chester Council.

The older people's care home would be operated by not-for-profit residential/respite care provider Borough Care, while the specialist care unit, for people with mental health issues and complex care needs, would be run by Enhanced Community Healthcare Options Group (ECHO) Care.

It would be on a U-shaped site, wrapping around an existing office development.

The development would be based on land off Lloyd Drive, Cheshire Oaks. Picture: Google.

The care home would consist of a main entrance with visitor and resident shared accommodation centrally located on both sides.

There would be four sets of 20-bed self-contained units, each with bedrooms, en-suite wet rooms, a large lounge/dining rooms, all with direct access to an external terrace, an assisted bath room, a nurse station, store rooms and a sluice.

There would also be a service area containing a central kitchen, laundry, staff room, changing facilities, plant room, comms room and training room.

In the specialist care unit, there would be four, six-bed residential units, all with en-suite wet rooms, a lounge, a quiet lounge, a dining room with a small lockable kitchen, an assisted bath room and a staff base and meds room.

There would also be a main entrance block with therapy rooms, activity rooms, staff facilities, an MDT room and a treatment room, plus a service area block with a central kitchen, laundry and plant room.

Both developments would come equipped with car parking spaces.

Borough Care said it already provides homes for well over 400 vulnerable residents, through a staff team of around 600 local people, in 11 dedicated homes.

In a statement, it said: "Borough Care intends to extend its services to older people and more critically, its ‘life in colour’ ethos, to this new, exceptionally high quality facility at Cheshire Oaks, in Ellesmere Port.

"The exceptional standards of care, support, which Borough Care has honed and improved over 20+ years will be transplanted into Cheshire West and Chester, focused on providing the best possible lives for local people, and their friends and families."

ECHO, a "small but growing independent health and social care provider", said: "The proposed development will meet the substantial and growing need for such specialist care in Cheshire West and Chester; meet the needs of local residents; reduce reliance on hospital beds; and will be a stepping-stone to living as independently as possible in the community."

It added the specialist care unit would be a registered rehabilitation and recovery service for people with mental ill-health. Each suite would have its own individual garden space, and "the facility will provide intensive support to rehabilitate residents who tend to have more complex needs and who struggle to live independently or who are regularly admitted into hospital."

It would be expected for 55 staff to serve the specialist care unit, while it is envisaged a total of more than 150 jobs would be created at the site overall.

People can comment on the application, with reference number 21/01547/FUL, via Cheshire West and Chester Council's planning website by May 14. Alternatively, write to Development Management, 4 Civic Way, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire CH65 0BE.