A PIONEERING project to provide extra care housing for the elderly and disabled has taken a vital step forward this week, with more than £3-million identified for the Okehampton scheme. The project to provide up to 35 supported housing units on the former Castle Hospital site has been included in the Housing Corporation programme for the coming year, with a budget provision of £3.25-million. Housing association the Guinness Trust will be working with partners to bring forward more detailed proposals for the scheme. However, while welcoming the good news on this proposed scheme, supporters have also called for more to be done to address the issue of rural housing for every age group, not just the elderly. Devon County Councillor Christine Marsh said she was glad the project was moving to the next stage ? but said the housing needs of young people also had to be addressed. Mrs Marsh said: ?I am excited about this project and I do welcome it. ?However, my concern now is that we are going to have too many homes for elderly people. We need accommodation for everybody, especially younger people. We need to get the balance right.? Cllr Marsh said she also hoped some part of the building?s historic facade could be retained, perhaps for the day care centre which would adjoin the accommodation units. Geoffrey Cox, West Devon and Torridge MP said he was pleased the project appeared to be taking a crucial step forward. ?I am delighted,? he said. ?It is a vital for the Okehampton area. I think it will be a wonderful that we can at last provide the facilities we need for elderly people?. Mr Cox said housing in West Devon was a key issue across the generations. ?I have people coming to see me at my surgeries who are desperate for housing. ?These are young people many with families, who want to stay in the local area, but are unable to find something they can afford. ?We need to provide some hope for these people.? Mr Cox said reform of planning legislation was needed to make it easier for small brownfield sites that could be developed for affordable housing to be utilised. The proposed scheme in Okehampton would provide housing for elderly people plus supported living accommodation for people with learning disabilities. A day care centre and other facilities would also be provided and residents would be supported by care workers and social services, where extra help was required. David Incoll, chief executive of West Devon Borough Council, said the aim of the proposed development was to allow elderly people ?to retain their independence?. The project is a joint initiative between the borough council, Devon County Council, the local Primary Care Trust and housing association the Guinness Trust, which will acquire the site from the Department of Health. An agreement on selling the site to the Guinness Trust was made in January, but the fact the project is identified in the housing programme for the coming year means more detailed plans on the scheme should be drawn up soon. Local authorities fought eighteen months ago to protect the hospital site from being sold for general housing development, and following a lengthy campaign it was safeguarded for medical purposes or care provision. Mr Incoll said the project, if it went ahead, would be the ?first of its kind in Devon? and other agencies would watching its progress closely. The council is making money from its council tax on second homes available to help finance the project.
