PLANS to turn a disused pub in Solihull Lodge into a £9miilion care home have been handed to the Council.
GNM Developments Limited has submitted a planning application for a new 72-bed development on the former site of the Prince of Wales pub on the High Street.
Developers say the home, which will offer farming therapy will be Solihull’s first Green Care Farming initiative which involves growing fruit and vegetables and keeping livestock such as Pygmy goats, Berkshire pigs, miniature cattle, Babydoll Southdown sheep, chickens and beehives.
The care home, which will employ up to 90 staff, plans to have a specialist dementia ward, a hair and nail salon, coffee room, cinema and virtual reality room, plus an infection-controlled visiting area.
Gerald Manton, managing director of GNM Developments Limited, said: “We are thrilled to announce that a planning application has been submitted for this new state-of-the-art care home.
“The Green Care Farming that we are planning will provide important stimuli to residents and will include a number of therapeutic strategies such as farm-animal related therapy, horticultural therapy, and general farm-based therapy.
“The livestock area will be designed specifically for therapeutic purposes, where animals are pets.
“The additional stimulus from the animals includes odours from hay, silage, and food being prepared, sounds from animals, touch, petting animals, and the tastes from fruit and vegetables grown.
“We regard this as the essential element that sets our proposed care home apart from anything else currently offered by care homes within the region.”
The planning application follows work by planning specialists from Cerda Planning Ltd and Carterwood Ltd.
Debbie Farrington, a director at Cerda Planning Limited said: “Not only will the Green Care Farming element of this scheme allow the greenbelt to be used as intended but it will also help increase the biodiversity of the natural surroundings.
“In planning policy terms, I consider that the proposals are compliant with both Solihull and Bromsgrove development plans and that officers should be supportive.”
GNM commissioned assistance on the design and planning from Martin Rowe of PMP Consultants Ltd, Nicholas Beecham and George Innes from HSP Consulting Engineers Ltd, Richard Twist from Jonathan Richard Associates Limited, and Ian Millership from CTS Traffic & Transportation.
