Work is to start shortly on creating 11 cottages suitable for the active elderly off Silver Street in Wrington, North Somerset.
Retirement home providers Blue Cedar Homes have purchased the former Brook House and its grounds from the Rector and Churchwarden of All Saint’s Church in a deal brokered by specialist development and land agency CJH Land.
The sale follows five years of work by CJH land to find an acceptable future for Brook House, which was bequeathed to the Church by its former owner.
Chris Glover of CJH Land said: “We now have a planning consent for 11 cottages that will provide homes for the over 65s in the area. We believe it will be a benefit to the village and provide much-needed accommodation.
“To get to this stage we had to go through a landmark planning appeal – the first in the UK – to challenge the regulations that stated new homes in this area had to include either live-work units, affordable units or retirement homes.
“We knew there was greater demand for homes for the active retired than units where people could work from home and that this site was ideal for such a use. It has been a long road but it means a good solution for the local community and an excellent development site for Blue Cedar Homes.”
Brook House stands on a one acre site, including a paddock and orchard and was bequeathed to the Church in 2004.
At the time the H7 planning regulations made it difficult for the planning authorities to grant permission for anything other than homes with attached work units on the site. CJH Land helped the beneficiaries successfully challenge this rule at appeal.
