Our Proposals
The proposed development would provide 55 independent living apartments, comprising 36 x 1 beds and 19 x 2 beds and 6 Retirement Cottages, alongside communal amenities and outdoor space.
The proposals include 20 unallocated parking spaces for the apartments and each of the cottages has its own allocated parking space.
Residents of the apartments will benefit from a communal Owner's Lounge and coffee bar to promote social interaction and provide a space for events and gatherings.
All developments by Churchill Retirement Living provide high quality external amenity space designed for passive exercise and the visual enjoyment of residents over 60 years of age, rather than active recreational uses. Planting is considered for longevity, colour all year, seasonal change, maintenance and local native biodiversity. Churchill Living have won awards for excellence for their landscaped gardens.
Proposed Site Plan
Quality design
The proposed development is an opportunity to greatly improve the street scene on Western Promenade by positively regenerating a site which presently detracts from the setting of Wherry Town.
Churchill have taken great care to evolve a design which utilises materials found in the local area so that the proposed retirement building to reflects the surrounding area.
The proposed design utilises many local features, including feature elevations, visible from Western Promenade Road, built from stone reflect a prominent material used across Penzance and Cornwall. Other parts of the building, which typically face within the site, are proposed to be rendered. The roof will also reflect local materials, with a slate pitched roof proposed. The proposed building will be presented across various building heights, with the proposals ranging from 2, 3 and 4 storeys.
Images showing proposed site elevations
Indicative elevation of proposed development facing Western Promenade Road
Indicative elevation of proposed development facing the Rotary Boating Lake
Indicative elevation of proposed development facing Lidl store and Petrol Station
Indicative elevation of proposed cottages
Benefits
Regeneration of an important site – The proposals would bring this important site, which is currently a vacant brownfield site and a significant eyesore, into positive and beneficial use and make a significant contribution locally in terms of social, economic and environmental benefits.
Supporting local businesses – Located within walking distance of a range of shops and key facilities in Penzance, a new Churchill development will provide an uplift in year-round new footfall at local shops and businesses.
Meeting the needs of older people – By moving to a Churchill Living community of like-minded people, isolation and loneliness are significantly reduced as are anxieties related to the maintenance of the home and to safety and security experienced by many older people, enabling our residents to enjoy greatly improved health and general wellbeing.
Reducing demands on health and social services – Retirement communities reduce the risk of health challenges by helping to reduce social isolation and loneliness for elderly people as well as improving safety and security.
Freeing up homes – Research has shown that providing homes at the top of the housing ladder, which better meet the needs and aspirations of older people, helps release many larger, second-hand properties back onto the market for local families to move into. In turn, smaller homes are also released which are suitable for first-time buyers.
Need for retirement living
The 2018 National Population Projections indicate that nearly a quarter (24.6%) of Cornwall’s population was over the age of 65. This proportion is expected to rise to 31.4% by 2043, representing a 51% increase in the number of residents aged 65 and over between 2018 and 2043.
In recognition of Cornwall’s demographics, the Council prepared a Specialist Housing for Older People report in 2015, which identified a need for 10,000 additional conventional sheltered homes for sale by 2030.
The expected increase of people over 65 was also further highlighted in the Council’s Housing Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) from February 2020. The document identified the need for an additional 3,535 Extra Care units by 2025 to meet predicted demand.
The Draft Penzance Neighbourhood Plan also identifies that a key challenge is that older people are typically in houses too big for them, but unable to downsize because the right type of homes are not currently available in the local area.
Parking
The proposal includes 20 unallocated parking spaces for the apartments and each of the cottages has an allocated parking space. 22 unallocated parking spaces in addition to parking for electric mobility buggies. A pedestrian access onto Western Promenade Road will provide easy access to the local area.
The typical age profile of those currently living at a Churchill Retirement community is an 80-year old widow. Generally, 50% of residents also come from within a 5-mile radius of the location.
Given the above, residents of Churchill communities tend to not have cars. It is also generally found that those who do initially have cars tend to give them up soon after moving into a lodge as they no longer need it given the sustainable location and neighbourly living environment.
As retirement living is a very different operational use than residential or care home developments, Churchill has developed an evidence base across several existing Churchill developments. This concludes that Churchill’s existing sites typically have a parking demand of 0.28 spaces per apartment.
As such, the parking demand forecast for the 55 apartments proposed will be approximately 15.4 parking spaces. Churchill is proposing 20 parking spaces to cater for the apartments, at a ratio of 0.36 spaces per apartment, which is likely to exceed the need for parking at any given time.