A LOSTOCK Gralam care home is hoping to expand into overgrown land, creating 22 new bedrooms as well as a children’s nursery.

The three-storey extension to the north of Lostock Lodge, within Cheshire Business Park, would also bring additional communal day space and 19 new parking spaces.

Run by Country Court Care, Lostock Lodge was initially given planning consent in 2015 and currently cares for up to 66 people.

A planning statement said residents living or working nearby at the new development would appreciate a more convenient nursery.

It added that extending modern, purpose-built facilities was a preferable method to converting older or larger properties.

Northwich Guardian:

The existing (south of yellow line) and proposed (north of yellow line) layout

The statement said: “The applicants are experienced care home operators and are fully aware of the increasing need for care home places within the towns and villages within which they have premises.

“The increasing need for such facilities also brings with it a desire for modern, purpose-built development over the well-established format of the conversion of larger or older properties.

“It is therefore more viable to extend existing premises where these features can all be ‘designed in’ to the proposed development, making the facility not only user-friendly for the care staff, but customer and resident-friendly.

“With the size of the overall site, and the addition of the unused land to the north, the obvious solution is to extend to the existing premises to satisfy the need for increased bedroom space within the area, to improve the status and turnover of the business and to increase staff levels in order to provide the required levels of care.

“The addition of the nursery facility at ground floor level will be highly beneficial to the area, especially where there may be parents either working in the nearby office developments or living in the new dwellings to the south and west of the business park.”

The ground floor would be used for the nursery, with the first and second floors each home to 11 en-suite bedrooms and new day space – with a balcony on the first floor.

Car parking spaces would more than double from 18 to 37.

The home was rated as requiring improvement in November, although ‘caring’ was good.