SOLIHULL Council and the North Solihull Partnership have announced that Runwood Homes will design, build and operate a brand new residential and nursing home in Chelmsley Wood.
The construction of the 60 bed home for older people with dementia will mark the final phase of the Chelmund’s Cross Village Centre development which has seen £22m of investment so far.
The Council will commission a ten year block contract to occupy all of the beds in the new home, meaning that local people will have greater access to affordable care in the future.
Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing, Coun Ken Meeson said: “As the population of older people in the borough grows, so too does the demand for high quality care and support services. The Council consistently faces the challenge of being able to find care homes and particularly nursing beds at an affordable cost and located in the borough to meet this increasing need.
“I am delighted therefore that we have been able to secure a high quality partner to provide what will be an exemplar scheme, offering local residents excellent facilities at an affordable rate.”
The new home will be located within Chelmund’s Cross Village Centre. The centre, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund, includes the £10m Bishop Wilson School, a new Enterprise Centre providing office space for small and new start-up businesses, as well as a new medical centre, dental practice, pharmacy and retail units which will be under construction soon.
Cabinet Member for Environment, Housing and Regeneration, Coun Tony Dicicco added: “The new home will be the final piece of the jigsaw to create a first class community hub for local people.
“Being located next to all of these fantastic new local amenities creates opportunities for the new residents of the home to really feel part of a community. “As well as the future job opportunities that will come once the home is built, Runwood Homes will also be offering two apprentice posts as part of the development; one during construction and one managerial post which demonstrates that they really understand and want to get involved in the wider investment we are making in the area.”
Now that Runwood Homes has been selected as the developer, they will soon be holding a public engagement event to seek people’s views on their plans for the design and layout of the building, prior to submitting a planning application to the Council.
Gordon Sanders, Chief Executive of Runwood Homes said: “We are delighted to have been selected as the Council’s partner and look forward to working on a long term basis to provide affordable quality dementia services for the people of Solihull.”
