DEVELOPERS have revealed detailed plans for the proposed £50million care village in Weymouth.
And they are asking local people to have their say as they launched a public consultation exercise.
A major redevelopment of the ex-MOD base and Qinetiq site at Bincleaves could see it transformed into a six-acre care village for the over 55s with shops, a fitness centre and promenade.
Surrey-based New Care Horizons Ltd started a two-day public consultation yesterday which will continue today from 9.30am to 1pm.
The purpose-built village would include 190 apartments, a 68-bedroom specialist care home and a further 18-bedroom dedicated care and respite hotel which would provide 200 jobs.
Apartments will be available to rent or to buy from around £160,000.
The village will be five storeys tall at the highest point but designers have said that it won’t obstruct views from the cliff.
Architectural director of the project Alan McGowan said that the whole design of the village was to get people active and socialising. He said: “There are a range of community facilities.
“It encourages people to be gregarious and social and we have had marriages in other villages.
“Things like the fitness centre are vital, it encourages wellbeing and a healthy body is a healthy mind.”
The village will have sea defences put around the edge and off the causeway to stop flooding. But designers said that these would not interfere with swimming at Newton’s Cove.
The ground floor of the village will be raised by one or 1.5 metres as an additional defence.
The designers are planning on having a village facility inside with shops, a hair salon and cafes.
There will be on-site parking but this will be underground.
Residents would be encouraged to use mobility scooters, electric cars or walk into town to reduce the amount of traffic.
The care home has been designed so that people can move in at 55 years old and the level of care can change as their needs do.
Special touches to the pals include a sensory garden, memory boxes and colour schemes for each floor to help those residents with progressive health problems like dementia.
Director Christopher Ross said that they were looking forward to hearing what the public thought.
He said: “Our ethos is safety, dignity and privacy.
“We want the village to have a community feeling and the whole idea is that we want to try and get the community involved early on.
“We’re not arrogant to think we get it right all the time.
“We want to hear what the public think.”
Plans are due to be submitted to Weymouth and Portland Borough Council next January.
If successful, the village could open in 2014.
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