Care home to be built on site of ex-council HQ

Plans to build a new care home on the site of a former council office have been approved.

The old Hambleton District Council offices, in Northallerton, will be demolished to make way for the 66-bedroom facility.

Plans submitted by LNT Care Developments were approved by North Yorkshire Council's Hambleton area planning committee on Thursday, despite some concerns about the amount of parking available at the site.

The offices became vacant following local government reorganisation and the creation of North Yorkshire Council in 2023.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, concerns were raised by councillors about whether the 25 parking spaces planned for the new building would be sufficient.

"There's not enough car parking to satisfy me that people can go along there and visit their relatives" said Great Ayton representative Heather Moorhouse.

"I do support the whole scheme, it's fantastic, but that's a problem that I've got."

Bryn Griffiths, member for Stokesley, added: "My main concern comes down to this issue of parking.

"I've spent a lot of time visiting my wife in a similar facility and parking is an issue. There are visitors coming to visit their relatives in the residence, there's tradesmen coming, contractors coming to do work, health care people arriving, social services, etc, etc.

"I feel that 25 park parking spaces from my own experience will be insufficient."

But Steve Watson, member for Northallerton North and Brompton, said motorists could park in the parking area serving the next-door leisure centre if needed.

He said: "It's a good quality application and delivers really what the area needs.

"The fact that there only appears to be one local objection really says it all."

North Yorkshire Council, which owns the building, received nine bids when the site was marketed, with none of these bids proposing to keep the existing building.

The sale of the site to the care home operator was described as a "win, win, win" situation by deputy leader Gareth Dadd when agreed last year.

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