The dementia care home was only built two years ago but it’s never been fully occupied
The care home on Ashby Road in Loughborough.(Image: Google)
A Loughborough care home built for dementia patients will be turned into student accommodation after it became “a significant financial burden” for a local charity.
The building, located at 190 Ashby Road, was constructed by Abbeyfield two years ago. The charity has provided care for elderly people in Charnwood for over 60 years.
Members of Charnwood Borough Council’s plans committee were told this week that a reduction in funding meant the specialist dementia care facility was “never fully occupied”, and that selling the building was “critical”.
But Ashby Road is in an area which ward councillor Rhys Cory-Lowsley described as a “hotspot” for students, with a committee member claiming residents were “tired of the vomit in their garden”.
Architect Will Aust spoke to councillors on behalf of applicant Orange Lloyds, a company specialising in the “buying and selling” of real estate, according to government records. Mr Aust told members the building was “perfectly suited” to being used as student accommodation.
He said Abbeyfield had been left with a “significant financial burden” after a reduction in funding. He added: “In reality, purpose-built student accommodation is the only viable and deliverable use that can both utilise the building as it stands and provide the value that Abbeyfield needs.”
He said only minor redecoration would be required and that a “robust” management plan, including on-site staff, would be in place to address concerns about anti-social behaviour. “This accommodation is exactly where student accommodation should be: within easy walking distance of both the university and the town centre.”
Mr Aust also claimed Abbeyfield’s other care home on Westfield Drive, which backs onto 190 Ashby Road, could “co-exist” with a student block.
But Coun Cory-Lowsley said he had asked the committee to decide the change-of-use application rather than planning officers, as residents were “concerned about the increase in noise that might arise”. He urged councillors to consider nearby residents, while admitting the street scene was already “dominated by student blocks”.
“For them, the difference between noise from an accommodation block further up the street and noise from a block immediately adjacent to their garden is quite tangible,” he said. Residents had shared fears over noise from a proposed outdoor area, he revealed, suggesting the hours of its use be restricted.
Coun Margaret Smidowicz, who sits on the council’s Loughborough University liaison group, said statistics show Ashby Road and neighbouring York Road “have the highest percentage of complaints”. “It’s a regular route [for students],” she said.
“Residents are tired of the vomit in their garden and the cans being thrown over.” She claimed a patrol organised to deal with noise and anti-social behaviour was “not as regular as you think it is”.
“The noise is absolutely horrendous,” she continued. “We have refused HMOs [houses of multiple occupation] on that street because of the density. It’s just all students. It might be easier to take the university walls and build it round and expand the university landscape.
“But there are, in between these blocks, private residents, and I think they deserve a break as well. We’ve got enough purpose-built student accommodation now, and the university is building more. I think we’ve got over 17 blocks now and this will be another 33 [rooms], so I’d just like to think a little bit about the residents.”
The rooms will all have en-suite facilities, and there will be kitchens, common rooms, meeting rooms and games rooms. Outside, there will be three car parking spaces, 30 spaces for bikes and a communal garden.
Councillors voted to approve the scheme, with five in favour, two against and two abstaining from the vote. The existing building at 190 Ashby Road was given planning permission in 2019, with a previous care home on the site being demolished.
