Plans approved for new care home and wellbeing centre at Chalkstone, Haverhill

Company news

Jul 08, 2013

Planning approval has been granted by St Edmundsbury Borough Council for the development in Haverhill of a new state-of-the-art care home for older people, and a wellbeing centre which will offer day care clubs and activities for older people who live independently in the wider community.

The new care home which will be built by Care UK will help to deliver Suffolk County Council’s vision for the care of older people in the county by providing purpose built facilities. The new care home will accommodate 60 residents and will provide nursing as well as residential care. Following a successful public consultation event in March 2013 at Haverhill Library, where the care home’s plans were available to view, the development project was given the green light by the St Edmundsbury planning committee on Thursday 4^th July.

Chris Hopkinson, Regional Operations Director at Care UK, said: “We are very pleased to have been granted planning approval for the new care home in Haverhill. Unfortunately there is currently a shortfall of specialist nursing and dementia beds in Suffolk and this new care home is a step towards addressing this issue.”

Construction on the Chalkstone development site in Haverhill is due to begin in October 2013, with the opening date scheduled for winter 2014. Following the opening of the new home, Place Court care home in Haverhill will close and residents will have the option to move into the new home once construction is complete. 

Care UK’s construction partner for the new build will be Castleoak, a highly regarded company that works exclusively in the care sector. The design of the new care home, which will provide nursing care and specialist dementia care services, is spacious, light and airy, with many communal areas for residents to meet with family, friends and fellow residents. The generously sized bedrooms are all ensuite with shower facilities and to give a homely feel, small groups of residents will share their own dining room and lounge. The new home also has a garden and sitting out area and attractive facilities including a café, hairdressers and a small cinema.

The wellbeing centre will provide day care activities and clubs which will help older people to maintain their independence for longer in their own homes and give valuable respite services for family carers.

The planning approval for the new care home at Chalkstone, Haverhill is the latest successful application in what will be a carefully coordinated and phased £60 million investment programme by Care UK in ten new care homes and ten wellbeing centres in the county between now and 2016.

On 1st December 2012 Care UK took over responsibility for Suffolk County Council’s existing sixteen residential care homes and eight wellbeing centres, welcoming over 500 residents. At the same time over 900 former Suffolk County Council employees transferred on their existing terms to be part of the Care UK team.

By 2016 the new homes and wellbeing centres will replace all Suffolk County Council’s former homes and wellbeing centres which date mainly from the 1960s and 1970s, which includes Place Court in Haverhill.

For further information see www.careuk.com/suffolk or call 0333 321 0956.