Final housing plans revealed for old Thorpe Road hospital site

Outline approval has already been given for the scheme and the full planning application proposes 37 new two and three-bedroom homes following the demolition of existing buildings.

An additional eight properties will be provided from the conversion of an historic former workhouse building containing vagrant cells, which campaigners fought to save as a feature. This is covered by a separate planning application.

Members of Melton Borough Council’s planning committee will be recommended to permit the detailed plans for the rest of the site at a meeting on Thursday.

Access to the site, which has remained vacant and derelict since the nearby new Melton Mowbray Hospital was opened in 2006, would be via Thorpe Road.

The final proposals also include details of landscaping, with most of the existing mature trees which run close to the boundary with Thorpe Road set to be retained. Pockets of landscaped areas and a wildflower meadow are planned at the end of George Street within the designated public open space area.

There is also provision for 76 parking spaces - sufficient for two per household - at the site, which is allocated for housing in the Melton Local Plan.

A planning officer’s report to go before the committee states: “The design and appearance of the proposed dwellings are considered to respect the

character of the surrounding area in terms of scale, density and finish.

“The proposed landscaping is appropriate in terms of size and nature to the site’s location close to the town centre.

“There has been no identified impact on residential amenity and with the inclusion of suitable conditions, the proposed development is not considered to result in any material impact on highway safety.”

One letter of objection was sent in by a neighbouring resident, who cited concerns over the impact on daylight from the proposed development.