Green light for new retirement community in Weybridge

LATER living operator Amicala and developer Socius have received planning consent from Elmbridge Borough Council for a new Integrated retirement community at Members Hill in Weybridge, Surrey.

The scheme will comprise 205 purpose-built, age-appropriate homes for sale alongside a range of amenities that will be accessible to the wider community including a hydropool, exercise studio and café enabling residents to live active and healthy lives.

Henry Lumby, chief development officer at Amicala, said: “Members Hill will provide new homes for local older people that are purposedesigned to enhance wellbeing and supported by healthcare provision on site to enable residents to live happier, healthier and more independent lives.

“We look forward to working with our partners and local stakeholders to bring these plans forward.”

According to analysis from Amicala, the provision of healthcare and wellbeing facilities will significantly reduce the burden on local NHS services, with GP and nurse visits for residents forecast to decrease by up to 38 per cent. The new retirement community will be delivered across a 10-acre site close to Weybridge town centre which was previously utilised as the UK headquarters for JTI.

The design includes the sensitive repurposing of existing buildings on the site, saving more than 3,000 tonnes of carbon, on-site renewable energy generation and new landscaped parkland.

Barry Jessup, managing director at Socius, added: “We are very pleased that plans for Members Hill have been approved, which will see a 1980s office campus repurposed as a new retirement community that will deliver better health outcomes for residents and amenities for the local community.

“Our approach will retain much of the existing building fabric, saving an estimated 3,000 tonnes of carbon.

“With an aging population and the NHS under severe strain, it is vital we continue to explore new ways to deliver retirement living and healthcare facilities.”

Work is expected to start on site in the autumn.

A homecare provider has created a new role in a bid to help keep clients out of hospital and remain in their own homes. The South Lakes branch of Westmorland Homecare has appointed former nursing sister Suzanne Catterall as its advanced homecare practitioner. One of her tasks is to boost training for the company’s homecare assistants, to help improve their understanding of medical conditions and help them spot any deterioration of individuals. This means they can act with more knowledge and improved skills, preventing hospital admissions and helping clients recover in their own homes with the team’s care and with input, where necessary, from medical professionals in the community. In her new role Suzanne will also mentor team leaders.