A MASSIVE care village will be built in Cirencester after councillors gave the green light for the demolition of a derelict former health club.

Stratton Place, which was Le Spa, will be knocked down to make way for a 64-bed care home, eight care suites and 34 assisted living flats with a large underground car park.

The building in Gloucester Road has been empty since the well-known health club shut its doors in 2011, citing financial troubles.

Since then it has fallen into a state of disrepair, with rough sleepers scrawling graffiti on its walls and needles found scattered on the floor.

The 1.3 hectare site was in the hands of the receivers until 2014 when it was bought by Court House Care, which is run by ex-Le Spa owners Linda Lloyd and Max Banham. They will develop the site with Octopus Healthcare, after receiving planning permission at a meeting of Cotswold District Council's planning committee last Wednesday.

After the meeting, a spokesman for Court House Care told the Standard: “We’re very pleased that the planning application has been approved and we’re grateful to the councillors for their support.
“We’d also like to thank the neighbours and Cirencester Civic Society for their co-operation and guidance during the planning process.

“Our proposals will regenerate the 1.3 hectare site, respond to the growing need for high-quality care facilities and breathe new life into this derelict site which has been a haven for vandals for too long.

“We hope to be celebrating an opening of the new care home in 2017.”

At the meeting, resident Jeremy Drew, of Albion Street, said: “Our garden wall forms the boundary to the site.

"We moved in December 2011 and expected a care home to be built, instead for four years the site has been derelict.

"I have had to kick people out for their own safety.

“There’s been vandals, fly-tippers and rough sleepers which have been a concern for me and my family.”

Cllr Patrick Coleman, member for Stratton Ward, gave his support to the proposal but expressed concerns that around 70 of the units would not count toward Cotswold district’s housing quota imposed by the government.

When the Standard broke the news in July that an application had been lodged to tear down Stratton Place, there was a backlash from some members of Cirencester’s community who were devastated at the loss of the building.

The house, most of which is thought to date from 1912, is not a listed building but is a non-designated heritage asset – a building considered of merit to the area.

Court House Care and Octopus Healthcare had previously been granted permission to convert the house into a 60-bed care home, but later decided that renovating was not as economical as demolishing and rebuilding.

At the CDC planning meeting, Cllr Joe Harris, of the St Michael’s ward, said it was an “absolute scandal that this gorgeous house” had been left to go derelict and warned against letting it happen again at another striking building in the area. Cllr Abigail Beccle, of the Fairford North ward, echoed him, saying it was “heartbreaking” to see the old Le Spa building in that state.

But Cllr David Fowles, of the Ampneys and Hampton ward, said: “I believe what’s going on at this site has real merit.”

Cllr Mark Harris, also mayor of Cirencester, expressed concern that the owners of Court House Care had sought to hide their identity at the helm of Le Spa from Cirencester Town Council.

“We did ask them whether this application had anything to do with the previous owners,” he said.

“This committee is not stupid and if there is a connection with Le Spa Limited and Court House Care it is not well advised to try and play us.”

When the application went to a vote, councillors voted 11 for and three against.

Cirencester Civic Society also gave their blessing to the project on the condition that a reclamation company would remove and sell the building’s façade to prevent it from being destroyed.

After the meeting, a spokesman for Octopus Healthcare welcomed the decision: “We are delighted to be part of this joint venture with Court House Care.

“What we are proposing in Cirencester will be groundbreaking and will deliver exceptional care in a superb environment.”

See wiltsglosstandard.co.uk for more on this story.