A PIONEERING scheme to create a purpose-built extra care housing development in Okehampton has taken a crucial step forward, following a top-level meeting in London last week.
The project would see the town?s Castle Hospital site transformed into 35 units for older people.
There would also be eight bungalows for people of all ages with learning disabilities, plus facilities, including a day care centre, lunch club, nursing station, hairdressing and laundry.
The residents would be supported by care workers from social services and the primary care trust, around the clock if required, to enable them to live in their own homes, as independently as possible.
If successful, the project would be the first of its kind in Devon.
Support from health minister Lord Warner was won at a meeting in the capital last Wednesday.
The Devon delegation, comprising West Devon and Torridge MP John Burnett, West Devon council chief executive David Incoll, Dr Paul Nielson, of Okehampton, and Ian Rice, of Devon County Council, persuaded the minister to extend the sale deadline of the Castle Hospital site for an extra two months, to allow funding to be obtained.
Dr Nielson, medical lead in the partnership, said: ?It?s a very exciting project which means highly dependent people will be able to live in their own homes.
?We want it to be innovative, we want it sensitive to the area, and it?s groundbreaking in its design.?
Dr Nielson told the minister there was a ?definite need? for such a facility and that the county council had identified it as its ?number one priority? in Devon.
Lord Warner?s reaction to the delegate?s report was ?very positive? said Dr Nielson.
?It?s quite an ambitious project, we have a lot of aims and requirements but we are progressing as best we can ? it?s a waiting game now,? he said.
Mr Burnett said he was ?very pleased? the other delegates were able to attend the meeting with him.
He said: ?The meeting with Lord Warner was very successful, he was very supportive and I believe we will have support from NHS Estates.
?I am in touch with Dr Stephen Ladyman, the minister who deals with grants, and I am confident we should be successful, to enable this pioneering scheme to go ahead.?
West Devon Council has fought to protect the Castle Hospital site from general housing development through the Local Plan, by restricting use of the site to medical purposes or development where a significant element of care is provided for residents.
Mr Incoll said: ?I think things are now going very well. Just getting that extra time enables us, I hope, to ensure delivery.
?There?s always a risk when you have a deadline and you have to put bids in for funding that you might extend beyond that deadline.
?I think what?s going to be provided will be a first for Devon and another block in the successful provision of facilities in Okehampton.?
If the project goes to plan, the site will be bought from the NHS by a housing association. A substantial bid for funding has also been submitted to the Supporting People fund.
An important aspect of the project is the close partnership working between Devon Social Services, the primary care trust, the borough, and the housing association, which will be confirmed once the formal tendering process has concluded early in the New Year.
A spokesman for Devon County Council said: ?Because the development would support clients with a range of health and social care needs, Devon county, the borough and the primary care trust see the project as a priority in meeting the needs of the local community.?