New 58-room care facility planned for south Shropshire town

A new care home could be built in Cleobury Mortimer to replace a previous building that was demolished immediately after being constructed.

Plans were submitted last week for a new 58-bedroom structure to replace the former building, which was knocked down in 2022 after it was found not to have been built in accordance with regulations.

A 75-bedroom replacement for the demolished building was refused in October last year, after Shropshire Council decided that the new larger building would have an “overbearing impact” to neighbouring properties.

The resubmitted development would contain 17 fewer bedrooms and reduced amount of car parking, allowing for greater levels of amenity space for residents, a supporting statement by applicant Cleobury Holdings Ltd says.

“The proposal has been amended to reduce the number of bedrooms within the care home as part of the current submission. This application seeks planning permission for a 58 bedroom care home.

“In order to address the previous reasons for refusal, the proposal has been amended to reduce the number of bedrooms within the care home as part of the current submission.

“This has resulted in a reduction in the size of the care home, being positioned further away from the eastern site boundary and the removal of dormer windows which were all factors which resulted in the refusal of the previous application.”

The applicant says the scale, mass and positioning of the building is now “almost identical” to the application for the original, now demolished building, which was approved in 2014.

“The outdoor space is deemed to be proportionate to the number of service users and staff on duty. There would only be a negligible reduction in the level of on-site amenity and open space in comparison to the previous levels which  the Council have deemed to be acceptable and approved,” it adds.

“Given that the proposed building now has an almost identical position, scale, mass and appearance, it is considered that that the previous reasons for refusal have been fully addressed.”

The application adds that concerns over transport and access to the site which formed a part of the refusal of the previous scheme had been addressed by reducing the capacity of the proposed care home.

Shropshire Council will decide on the scheme in due course.