Sandford retirement village pledge

ST MONICA S Trust has said it is still committed to plans for a retirement village in Sandford despite a rejection by North Somerset councillors.

ST MONICA'S Trust has said it is still committed to plans for a retirement village in Sandford despite a rejection by North Somerset councillors.

The authority's planning and regulatory committee voted to refuse consent for the project at it's meeting on August 22.

However, opinion was split about the £23million development, with a vote of five to seven.

St Monica's Trust Director, Gerald Lee, said: "We are obviously disappointed not to secure planning consent as we are keen to move forward with what we know will be an innovative development. However we are encouraged by the amount of support our application did receive."

The development, proposed for the old Sandford Stone site in Station Road, would include a 90-bed care home, sheltered housing and affordable housing.

It would also provide care for those people suffering from dementia.

Councillor Liz Wells showed her support at the meeting, saying that she thinks it could be a flagship project for North Somerset.

Councillors Tony Lake and Bob Bateman said they also back the project but believe planning policies that are currently in place are unable to cope with such an application.

Cllr Bateman said: "I'm sure we could make an exception to the planning policies for this project, which will really benefit the area."

The plans created for the development show that part of the building work would take up greenfield land, which would contravene a number of planning policies and is one of the main reasons councillors refused the application.

Cllr Keith Morris said at the meeting: "This has become quite an emotional issue that must be decided through council policy. We must take into account the fact that the plans break 22 of these.