Limes housing development given green light

Friday 28 May 2021

Planning permission has been granted to turn the former Limes nursing home into housing blocks.

Outline approval was this week given to the Andium development, which could be completed by the end of 2024 and will be a mix of social rentals and buyable homes.

The development will comprise of 40 one-bedroom, 83 two-bedroom and seven three-bedroom units.

The current buildings, which include the Limes, 13-28 Willow Court and the Willows Day Care Centre, will be demolished. Their replacement will be six floors’ at its highest point – one fewer than originally planned.

1-12 Willow Court and Willow House, to the south-west of the main development, will be refurbished rather than knocked down and is subject to a separate planning application. 

Pictured: the lower ground floor site plan of the new development (Andium/Waddington)

The former Health site, which was transferred to Andium in 2017, is currently used as junior doctor and hospital keyworker accommodation. 

The new development includes lower-ground-floor parking for 109 cars, five spaces outside, parking for six motorbikes, a 78-space bicycle store and further room for 72 bikes. 

An Andium spokesman said that while the taxpayer-owned company was pleased to receive outline planning permission, there was still a significant amount of detailed design work to do before the bulldozers moved in.

The project would also have to fit into Andium’s wider schedule of work, he said.

“Our working assumptions at this stage are that we will not commence works at the Limes until next year, if we do so then there would be a reasonable expectation that homes on the site could be completed by the end of 2024 but actual timescales should become clearer by the end of this year,” he added.

All homes, whether rental or purchase will be accessed via Andium's Affordable Housing Gateway.