North Yorkshire Council has proposed building an extra care housing scheme on land at Cardale Park in Harrogate.
The authority purchased the three-acre site in on Beckwith Head Lane in January 2022 for £1.8 million.
The land was previously owned by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services in the district.
Now, the council has launched a survey on creating an extra care housing scheme on the site.
Extra care housing is specialist housing designed for older people. It offers help with personal care and household chores and is designed to give residents independence.
The authority said the project could become an “asset to the local community” in light of the extensive housebuilding planned for the west of Harrogate.
In its survey, it said:
“We acknowledge that the site, at present, is fairly remote, however, the proposed plan for local development includes building over 1,200 new homes, a primary school, a cricket pitch, a football hub and community woodland space, creating a vibrant surrounding community hub, with the extra care scheme becoming an asset to the local community, providing affordable housing for older people in an idyllic rural location.”
Read more:
- Lib Dem candidate calls on government to foot £20m Harrogate hospital concrete bill
- Council ‘examining best options’ for £1.8m Cardale Park land
The deadline for the council’s survey is November 29.
The land was previously given approval for a 36-bed mental health facility on the site, following the closure of Harrogate District Hospital’s Briary Unit, which helped adults with mental illness.
However, those plans were dropped in 2019 and inpatients on the unit were sent to Foss Park Hospital in York instead.
