A FORMER care home in a residential area of Taunton will be turned into four-bedroom houses, despite concerns about the amount of parking being provided.

The Orchard Court Care Home on Harp Chase closed in 2016 and does not meet the Care Quality Commission’s requirements for a modern care home.

Taunton Deane Borough Council refused plans in June 2018 to replace the care home with a new, larger facility, which would have provided 78 bedrooms.

Now the council has agreed for the vacant site to be demolished, with nine homes being built in its place.

Numerous local residents spoke in favour of the change at a meeting of the council’s planning committee in West Monkton on Wednesday evening (February 6).

Tracey Bristow, of Shoreditch Road, said: “To be honest, the nursing home has been empty for more than three years now. The alarms keep going off and the site has been vandalised. I’m constantly worried about whether there are squatters or gypsies on site.

“This won’t affect our properties – I’ve checked with three estate agents – and will benefit the area.

“I have no problems with any of the houses. I says let’s move on and enjoy our homes in our area.”

David Orr, who has lived on Tamar Avenue for nearly 34 years, said building a new care home on the site would be “intractable” and not appropriate for the surrounding homes.

He added: “This is a much better use for this constrained site.”

Christine Bickerstaff, of Harp Chase, said she was in favour in principle of the development, but raised concerns about the amount of parking being provided.

She said: “Maybe one less house could allow each space to be a more attractive plot and better for Harp Chase.

“We are, as neighbours, prepared for noise, dirt, dust and obstruction of driveways while construction is going on.

“I fail to see how the developer doesn’t see the problem the parking will cause – it is a disaster waiting to happen.”

Bradley Ford, speaking on behalf of Gadd Properties Ltd, clarified that each house would have three parking spaces – two in the open air and a garage.

He added that the road within the development site could be widened to 5.5 metres to ensure safe access for both residents and emergency vehicles.

Councillor Simon Coles was critical of the proposal, citing the lack of affordable housing and the amount of parking.

He said: “Again we see no affordable housing because it creeps under the magic number of ten. I suggest that a revised scheme of 12 three-bedroom houses would be just as appropriate.

“I don’t think there is adequate parking – the fact that other sites in Taunton have even less is neither here nor there. I find myself unable to support this.”

Councillor Ian Morrell said another care home would be “overbearing” and praised the design of the proposed dwellings.

He said: “Having good quality homes of the kind that Gadd build can only be good for Taunton Deane. I will be supporting the application.”

He added, however, that it would be difficult to ensure the garages were used for parking rather than for storage.

He said: “There’s no point having a condition that the garage will be used for cars at all times when it won’t be enforced.”

The committee voted to approve the plans by a margin of ten votes to one.