£5m flat plan for garage
Last updated 13:03, Wednesday, 27 August 2008
The three-storey building, comprising 41 apartments, is planned for the old Pye Motors Ford garage on Holker Street.
Accent Housing Association is behind the project and hopes to have the “extra care” facility open in the next two years.
The site will be made up of a combination of one and two bedroom apartments, all of which will be rented out.
The apartments will be self-contained but residents will have the option of taking advantage of the other facilities on-site, which will include services such as a hairdressers, laundry facilities and a restaurant.
Accent spokesman Andy Gamble said: “Extra care is technically for people over 55 but generally they’ll be older than that. All of the flats will be rented and we have worked with the borough council and Cumbria County Council in developing these proposals.
“There are a lot of single people who are in inappropriate accommodation. We will try and identify through the waiting list of the local authority the most appropriate people to be housed. It will be a needs-based assessment.”
Funding for the project has come through the Housing Corporation in the form of government grants and private finance. Mr Gamble said there will be the potential for local job creation but was unable to give any figures on possible staffing levels.
If planning permission is granted, building is due to start in November and finish in February 2010. A second phase of the plan will be to have four or five bungalows built adjacent to the site, aimed at disabled residents.
Margie Arts, secretary of Barrow and Furness Pensioners’ Association, said: “Accommodation of this sort will give older people who are presently endangered, safe and secure accommodation.
“We welcome an increase in this sort of accommodation within the borough.
“The importance of a front door of your own can’t be over-emphasised.”
Furness MP John Hutton also welcomed the plans.
He said: “Accent Housing has a very good reputation for providing high-quality accommodation, particularly for vulnerable groups.
“There has long been a need in the Furness area for increased facilities of the type they propose.
“They offer options for people who may need some level of support but who do not need to be in nursing or residential care-type accommodation.
“This development would be complimentary to efforts to help keep people as independent as possible within their community and not being inappropriately admitted to hospitals or nursing care facilities when they do not need to be.”
Accent is currently seeking planning permission for the project.
Chris Blake, of Croft Goode Ltd, prepared a report on Accent’s behalf.
As well as the 41 “extra care” flats, it says, the development will include car parking, “therapeutic” gardens for residents and public art.
The report also highlights the fact the apartment block will be at one of Barrow’s main entrances, next to the train station, 10 minutes’ walk away from the town’s main shopping area and five minutes’ walk from Barrow Park.
The proposed building will also be close to houses.
Mr Blake’s report explains how the design aims to make the facility fit in with the existing properties.
It says: “The building’s form seeks to adopt a scale in keeping with that of the local housing which is comprised predominantly of two-storey terraces.”
“By stepping the plan, grouping the apartments vertically, the overall volume of the building is broken into smaller segments, reflecting this domestic scale.
“This is further emphasised by the use of materials to clad individual segments, particularly to the elevation facing Holker Street.
“Although the building seeks to adopt the scale of the local architecture, consideration has also been given to its role as a ‘gateway building’ for Barrow, particularly given its nearness to the railway station.”
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