Despite officers at Herefordshire Council planning department recommending refusal local councillors, Andrew Atkinson and Phil Cutter, argued in favour of a new care home in Ross.

An application appeared before the planning committee last week for a 90 bedroom care home in Alton Street, Ross-on-Wye.

Previously this application had been for a 60 bed care home and had been refused, but later won on appeal.

The new home will provide 30 bedrooms for the frail elderly, 48 bedrooms for dementia care, 12 bedrooms for "end of life" dementia care, day rooms, dining rooms, office, shop, café and a cinema room. This state of the art facility has been carefully designed to provide leading healthcare facilities.

The building will be mostly single storey with a two storey part at the front of the site. The scheme includes courtyards and sitting areas and lots of interesting landscaped areas designed by award winning landscape architects Tim Lynch Associates. The Dementia Courtyards include old style features and objects such as red telephone box and post box which will trigger memories to aid reminiscence. There is even a roof garden with dining terrace with sun parasols for shade looking up towards Chase Woods and the surrounding countryside.

Luke Freeman, Joint Managing Director of M F Freeman Group of Companies commented "We are delighted to have received planning consent for this exciting scheme which will provide Ross with much needed new facilities for the care of the elderly. The scheme will provide 94 full time care jobs plus employment for the construction of the home and the on-going services provided into it, which is great for inward investment into the local economy."

Cllrs Atkinson and Cutter were conscious of concerns of some residents and had concerns themselves that they wanted addressed but they could see no sense in refusing a care home that would bring 94 full time jobs and many more service jobs to the town, the home would also provide a level of care not currently available in the town including end of life and dementia care. Currently Ross relatives travel to Monmouth or Hereford to visit relatives in similar homes.

The officers' recommendation for refusal rested on the site being dedicated employment land that should be set a side for employment uses, when Cllr Atkinson concluded the debate he said " I would think that 94 jobs in the care industry would class as employment, so to me employment opportunities are a pretty good use of employment land!"

The Cllrs recognised that these jobs are desperately needed in Ross, and they told the Ross Gazette:?"with our concerns addressed and the applicant revisiting the plans to include Cllrs suggestions including more parking, design issues, extra landscaping and more, the Cllrs were happy to see the officers decision overturned."

Ross-On-Wye Town Council was strongly in support of the application.

The officers' decision was overturned with the condition that the applicant must start work within 12 months.