PLANS to demolish parts of a Newport care home and to rebuild it along with an extension have been refused.

The proposal for Millheath Nursing Home in Parret Road, Bettws, was put in front of Newport City Council’s planning committee today, July 7.

The application was for an existing office building and garage/laundry rooms to be demolished and replaced with a new, 30 bedroom, two-storey care home with associated facilities, and a new single-storey office and laundry building.

But committee members said they were concerned about the design of the proposed new buildings, saying they had the potential for an adverse affect on the visual amenity in the area.

They also highlighted how there was insufficient landscape and drainage details provided and that there would be a loss of green space which cannot be justified. There was also said to be insufficient information relating to the existing trees on site in terms of retention and protection and no ecological enhancement details provided.

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The agent for the applicant refuted the claims, saying that they had provided the necessary drainage and urged the committee to put off the decision until the next meeting to allow for a site visit. This was denied by chairman Cllr John Richards on the grounds that legally they were not able to visit the site due to Covid-19 restrictions, and that it would not provide any benefits other than what the site currently looks like.

The report outlined that along with the demolition and construction, there would be work to widen the access road that is currently in place as well as add another access road to a new car park and provide a courtyard space for residents.

There were concerns in place about the extra access road, with the site being directly opposite an access road to Millbrook Primary School. However it was established that the specific entrance is used by teachers and occasionally parents dropping children off to the flying start section of the school.

The planning committee were unanimous in their decision to refuse the application, however, they were in agreement that there does need to be more places at care homes.

The application would have seen 30 beds provided for dementia sufferers in the care facility which the council welcomed in principle.