A PROPOSAL to build a 50-bed care home off the A339 in Kingsclere has been rejected after the parish council strongly opposed to the plans.

The plan was submitted by Frontier Estates to build the care home with 18 parking spaces, access, landscaping and other associated works on a land between A339 and Fawconer Road.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough councillors who heard from applicants and Kingsclere Parish Council at a development control committee meeting last Wednesday, September 7, voted in favour of rejecting the plan.

The proposal was rejected for three reasons - the location and scale would not be sympathetic to the landscape character of the area; the proposal is contrary to the Kingsclere Neighbourhood Development Plan 2011-2029; in the absence of a completed Section 106 agreement.

David Wilson Homes had previously received planning permission to build 13 houses on this site. However, they sold the land to Frontier Estates in mid-2020.

Representatives of Frontier Estates who addressed the meeting said the care home would provide the equivalent of 28 new houses including by freeing up family housing locally, which would boost the council's housing supply.

“This is more than double that provided by the existing permission and more than half of the 50 unit target currently for Kingsclere.

“There is no care home serving Kingsclere currently and there are none other than this one planned. The proposal offers a number of other significant benefits including employment opportunities, contributions to the local economy and savings to the taxpayer, including reducing bed blocking and reliance on hospital services.”

Opposing the plan, Kingsclere parish councillor John Sawyer said it does not align with their neighbour plan for at least 12 houses on the site.

“Kingsclere Parish Council believes that there is no justifiable reason to overturn the existing approved planning permission granted by the local planning authority for housing on this site.

“The proposed care home meets the needs of residents from the borough and beyond, but not the residents of Kingsclere. Yes, the care home would add an additional 15 units towards the housing target. But this is not a numbers game. We're talking about the real needs of the people of Kingsclere and granting this application would actually deprive 13 families of the homes that they need.”