Handforth could see 76-bed care home resurrection

Wrightcare Developments, a subsidiary of Eric Wright Group, has applied to Cheshire East Council to develop and subsequently manage a 24-hour residential care facility on the same plot where a similar facility was set alight in 1996.

The Cassidy + Ashton-designed facility would offer 76 beds to provide end-of-life care to elderly residents and dementia patients.

Plans lodged with Cheshire East Council by planner Broadgrove suggest that 38 beds would be reserved for individuals requiring daily personal care, social support, and supervision.

The remaining beds would be tailored to dementia patients within a secure and specialist environment tailored to individuals’ complex needs.

Alongside standard private en-suite rooms and care infrastructure, residents would have access to a bar and lounge area, a hair and beauty salon, a library, dining rooms, a wellness gym, and a secure garden to encourage mobility.

The development would be more than two storeys and split into a northern and southern wing.

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Around 70 staff are expected to be employed and operate the facility 24 hours a day.

Access to the 2.8-acre site would be from a newly formed entrance off Sagars Road, and 32 parking spaces are set to be provided.

The land is Green Belt, but the application cites the redevelopment of previously used land as a reason for a Green Belt exemption.

Although currently vacant, the plot was the site of the Knowle House care home until it was demolished after an arson attack reduced half of it to rubble in 1996.

The project team includes UES, Red Acoustics, TEL Landscape Architects, Mode Transport Planning, Eric Wright Construction, JPS, WLG, and E3P.

To view the application, use the planning reference number 25/2053/FUL on Cheshire East Council’s planning portal.