A former care home in Ventnor will be turned into ‘high-quality housing’, following approval of planning permission.
County Hall planners have approved Chris Danes of In Safe Hands Home Care Limited’s change of use application to convert Bluebell House at 74 – 76 Mitchell Avenue in Ventnor into 3 apartments.
Bluebell House Residential Care Home closed in October 2022 due to a ‘lack of staff availability’, according to Mr Danes’ application form.
A submitted Planning Statement said:
“The proposal will bring the property back into residential use so various people living, staying and visiting can enjoy the sea views, surrounding area and everything Ventnor has to offer.
“It is disappointing that the continued use of Bluebell House as a care home is not economically viable based on the historic operations stopping in 2022, various news reports since, and our enquiries with various care home businesses and a commercial letting company, where we found no interest in considering this opportunity or confidence in marketing this opportunity successfully due to the history and state of repair.
“This proposal offers various sized dwellings, from a 2-bedroom apartment up to a six-bedroom property, rather than purely converting the building back to 2 6-bedroom semi-detached houses, as this was in the past.
“There is sufficient parking under the relevant guidance for the proposed dwellings, based on the five spaces available and required.
Article continues below this advertisement “This is in addition to being walking distance from Ventnor town and on the main bus route through Ventnor.”
Explaining the approval, officers wrote:
“From a cursory review of the property during the case officer’s site visit, it is accepted that there are challenges in terms of bringing the building the back into use to meet modern care home requirements, as well as likely financial challenges in the current economic climate.
“The proposed use is likely to have less potential impact on neighbours in terms of noise and disturbance than the previous care home use.
“Given the proximity to public transport services and the town centre, the proposed level of parking provision would be acceptable, noting that there would be a reduction in parking demand in terms of visitor parking and for staff compared to the previous care home use.”
