In place of the originally proposed 20 assisted-living flats and a 60-bed care home, the developers now want to build 22 assisted-living bungalows on a 1.04-hectare site, in addition to the 15 two-bedroom bungalows that have already been built adjacent to the west of the undeveloped site.
 
The revised plans include the erection of management offices and a clubhouse/café.
 
The original plans, which were presented to the community and granted planning approval in January 2019, were the subject of several design changes in 2022, including alteration to the height of the proposed care home building adjacent to Marriott’s Way.
 
These plans have now been revised, apparently owing to current market conditions.
 
Public comments on the revised plans have been mixed. A resident of the existing care village believes the proposed care-assisted bungalows will fit into the surroundings more sympathetically than an apartment block.
 
“It is a care village, not a care home, which enhances our sense of well-being,” they said, adding that the current residents need the main social centre/management offices built “without undue delay”.
 
Another comment on the planning application expressed disappointment with the revised plans as the original development of the site would have provided a type of retirement/care village that enabled a progression in care provision as residents care needs changed.
 
“The new proposal for more bungalows does not achieve anything more than accommodation for low-level care needs and residents will have to leave the site when their needs can no longer be met,” they said.
 
Reepham Town Council did not object to the latest planning application, but has expressed several concerns including over-development, with the proposed bungalows being “crammed-in” and very close to each other and in close proximity to physical borders and barriers.
 
In addition, car parking access to some of the bungalows has been provided directly from Stony Lane in order to increase the number of dwellings on the development site, while some plots have little or no garden space.
 
See our earlier stories:

• Concerns raised over design changes to care village
• Launch of first bungalows in care village
• Care village/Co-op plans approved