Seal of approval for Cannock health park complex
A new health park with more than 60 apartments for the elderly in Staffordshire has been approved.
Cannock Chase Council has granted permission for a new GP surgery, pharmacy and cafe at the former Langbourn House care home in Longford Road, Cannock.
The Staffordshire County Council plans include 63 rented apartments aimed at older residents who have extra care needs.
Hillcroft House, a redundant building which used to be part of the old Chase Hospital, will be knocked down.
There will also be a hairdressers and community rooms built as part of the project as well as a nine-bedroom respite centre for people with learning disabilities.
Councillor Muriel Davis, health and wellbeing portfolio holder at Cannock Chase Council, welcomed the scheme.
She said: "We need some assisted living accommodation because we have one of the highest populations of older people in Staffordshire and we don't have a lot of assisted living homes in the rental sector.
"We have private care homes but this scheme could hopefully free up some council houses with residents moving into the new apartments. The GP surgery is also great news because the doctor who is moving in there desperately needs to expand."
The plans had previously included controversial proposals to demolish nearby Ivy House in Wolverhampton Road and build 14 three-bedroom homes aimed at the over-55s. The county council had said the building was costing £100,000 to maintain.
But the authority withdrew the 143-year-old Ivy House from the scheme after an outcry saw more than 1,000 people sign a petition against the Victorian building being bulldozed.
