A new Churchill Retirement community in Romsey

Our Proposals

Churchill Retirement Living’s vision is to deliver a retirement living development, which takes full advantage of the town centre location and meets the local need for retirement apartments.

The proposal seeks to provide 46 apartments for retirement living.

As has been mentioned, the site has historically been used as a care home (use class C2). Churchill’s proposals for retirement living apartments (use class C3) therefore present a very similar use to that previously consented on the site and the general principle of redevelopment is therefore accepted. 

Those typically living in a care home require a high level of care, residents of a Churchill Retirement community live a very independent lifestyle without the same care needs. In many ways, living in a Churchill apartment is no different from living in any other home, but in an age friendly environment with a neighbourly support network.

All developments by Churchill Retirement Living include high quality external amenity space designed for passive exercise and the visual enjoyment of the 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.

Benefits 

Supporting local businesses – The site is well-located to shops and essential services in Romsey Town Centre, reducing the need to travel by car and delivering a significant uplift in local expenditure at local shops and businesses.

Regeneration of an important site – The proposals would bring this site into positive and beneficial use and make a significant contribution locally in terms of social, economic and environmental benefits.

Meeting the needs of older people – By moving to a Churchill Retirement 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.

Car Parking

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 age-profile, 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 find they no longer need it given the sustainable location and neighbourly living environment.

At this stage, the proposals include 46 retirement apartments, providing 14 unallocated parking spaces in addition to secure cycle and mobility scooter parking.

As retirement living is a very different operational use than residential apartments or care home developments, Churchill have developed an evidence base of research undertaken across several existing Churchill Retirement Developments.

This research has shown that Churchill’s existing sites typically have a parking demand of 0.28 spaces per apartment. As such the parking demand is forecast to be in the region of 13 parking spaces.

Churchill is proposing 14 parking spaces at a ratio of 0.33 spaces per apartment. Given this exceeds the forecast parking demand, it is likely to exceed the need for parking at any given time and is therefore considered to be appropriate, especially given the town centre location meaning that a wide range of everyday services are within a short walk from the site.

Design Evolution

Churchill Retirement Living recognise that the site is an important location within a key gateway into Romsey Town Centre from the Bypass Road and sits adjacent to attractive buildings on Palmerston Street and Broadwater Road, such as the Prezzo restaurant and Palmerston Street Cottages.

The current building of the former care home is dated, having been built in late 1960's, and is in a poor state of repair externally and internally. The current building therefore detracts from the surroundings and the redevelopment of the site presents the opportunity to provide a betterment on this key gateway to Romsey town centre.

In recognition of the site’s key location, Churchill has been evolving the proposed design with input from local professionals. This has included presenting the plans at a design review panel with Design West, the South West Design Review Panel made up of qualified architects, landscape architects and other development professionals. The design has evolved ahead of this public consultation following feedback form the Design Review Panel as well as initial discussions with Romsey Town Council representatives.

Further details on the proposed design are included below.

Need for retirement living in Romsey

The age profile of the population can be drawn from Census data. Test Valley, identifies an age profile with a mean age of 41.4 and a median age of 43.0. However, the figures identify that 29,720 are over the age of 60, equating to 25.5% of the current population of the borough. The 2011 Census data identifies that 3,932 homes within the borough are owned or shared ownership that belong to those aged 65 and over. Which is the biggest tenure category for the over 65’s, with Social Rented as 1,299 and private rented or living rent free at 471.

The Test Valley Housing Needs Marketing Assessment (2022) indicates that over a 10 year period the older population within the borough is expected to increase by 24.5%, compared to an increase of 19.2% in England. Additionally, the 85+ age group is expected to increase by 64.6% which is almost double the population change in England (38.5%).

A key theme within the SHMA report (2014) is older person housing. The SHMA states that as of 2020, it was estimated that 22% of the population of Test Valley was aged 65 and over, this compares with 22% for the County, 20% regionally and 19% nationally (below).

The SHMA goes onto address housing solutions and it is noted that retirement apartments can prove very popular if they are well located in terms of access to facilities and services, and environmentally attractive (e.g. have a good view).

Additional information, including before and after slider plans are provided below. You can slide left and right to see before and after images.

You can also see our virtual exhibition on the exhibition tab. 

Before and After slider

Proposed site plan

Images showing proposed building elevations