BACKERS of a project to transform the former Castle Hospital site in Okehampton to provide care housing for the elderly are delighted the scheme has been boosted by a £500,000 cash injection and an agreement on the sale of the site. The pioneering project aims to provide extra care housing for up to 35 older people as well as eight people with learning disabilities. The project would provide support from care workers to allow residents to live in their own homes, as independently as possible. The Okehampton Supported Housing project would also ensure the provision of daytime facilities for up to 25 older people. An investment of £500,000 was agreed by the county council?s cabinet ? the executive ? last week, funded by increased council tax on second homes. Agreement has also been reached by the Department of Health, which owns the former hospital, to sell the site to a housing trust at an affordable price. The project is a joint initiative between Devon County Council, West Devon Borough Council, the Guinness Trust and the Primary Care Trust. West Devon Borough Council also plans to commit its allocated second homes council tax funding to the project. Chief executive David Incoll said: ?The Castle Hospital site is a level site, close to Okehampton town centre and provides an ideal location for this development which is specifically designed for people who wish to live independently but require support. ?With the agreement this week from the Department of Health to sell the site to the Guinness Trust, we are now able to make real progress with this scheme.? West Devon and Torridge MP Geoffrey Cox said he was ?absolutely delighted? the scheme seemed to be ?moving forward so positively?. He said: ?All parties have been working together to bring together this vital development. No site could be more appropriate than the Castle Hospital, which has treated and supported people for generations.? Mr Cox said he wanted to see a higher level of affordable housing in West Devon, adding that this type of care housing was in particularly short l Continued on page 3