Plan to develop care home for more residents

A DEVELOPER has submitted plans to rebuild a care home in Shiplake for a luxury care operator.

Aedifica UK wants to demolish and rebuild Lashbrook care home in Mill Road, which is currently run by Bondcare, and increase the home’s capacity from 46 to 57 residents.

The real estate investment company, which focuses on healthcare properties, says the new home would be run by Loveday & Co, a care home operator that specialises in high-end luxury residential care.

Its design and access statement said: “Poor connectivity, a low bedroom count and limited communal spaces have resulted in significant operational challenges.

“The current home fails to deliver the expected facilities of a modern, high quality care home. Furthermore the low quality building fabric would today fail to reach modern building performance targets.

“To upgrade the existing buildings to a level expected of a contemporary care home is deemed unviable.”

But neighbors have raised concerns with South Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authority, about increasing the building’s height from two to three storeys, higher traffic in the area, and worsened drainage on the flood-prone road.

Graeme Radford, who lives near the care home, said: “Single-storey parts are proposed to be increased to two storey and existing two-storey parts increased to three stories. This will form a singular blot on what is a beautiful South Oxfordshire landscape for walkers from Shiplake Lock to Shiplake.”

Mr Radford added that while the development had added landscaping to help the building to fit into its surroundings, this could take years to grow.

Some feared increased traffic from the expanded care home could make Lash Brook Bridge, which is shared with pedestrians, more dangerous.

Mr and Mrs Gamble, of Mill Lane, are worried their road would not be able to cope with an increase in traffic.

They said: “Mill Road and Mill Lane are narrow with insufficient passing places. Mill Road floods regularly at the access point between the care home and Mill Road by the letter box. It is impassable in a high flood. Access to the care home is via a narrow bridge which has already had to be repaired and is currently cracked.

“These problems would be serious if the elderly residents had to be evacuated due to flooding.”

Geoff Thomas, of Mill Road, said additional residents would worsen drainage issues in the road.

He said: “The site sits in a flood-plain area which regularly floods — and which climate change predictions forecast only to get worse.

“The added risk of additional sewage and waste water effluent coming from a much larger establishment is bound to impact the already constrained existing drainage and sewage system in the Mill Road area.”

Other residents questioned the need for additional capacity in the home which was at around 67 per cent in 2022.

Michael and Nicola Ryan, of Mill Lane, said: “Shiplake already has too many old peoples homes and what we need are young people. How does this increase in provisions for the elderly fit in the neighbourhood plan?”

The home was converted into a care home in 1949 and was developed further in 1995 and 1996.

The district council will make a final decision by January 1.