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.

North Yorkshire County Council has completed the £1.8 million purchase of land earmarked for a care home near Cardale Park.

The three-acre site on Beckwith Head Road in Harrogate was previously owned by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, which runs mental health services in the district.

However, the county council has now bought the land in order to progress a “scheme to assist with social care market development in the Harrogate area”.

Following the purchase, council officials are now expected to outline plans for the facility to senior county councillors in May.

A spokesperson for the county council said:

“We have completed purchase of the land and we are planning to go back to executive in May 2022 for a final decision on the use of the land and in the meantime and we are completing viability studies on best use of the site.”

Read more:

• Council social care staff in Harrogate district to get £320 thank-you bonus
• Under pressure Yorkshire Ambulance Service drafts in the military
• County council to buy Cardale Park site for care facility

The land was previously given approval to build 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.