Planning permission granted for Bournville retirement cottages

The ExtraCare Charitable Trust has been granted planning permission to build 16 cottages as part of Bournville Gardens, the Charity’s fourth retirement village in Birmingham.

The cottages will offer a mix of two and three bedroom homes for purchase for the over 55s. Using latest technology, they will be easily adaptable to provide for residents’ changing needs over time.

People living in the cottages will have access to Bournville Gardens’ exciting range of social and leisure facilities, including a café bar, hairdressing and beauty salon, fitness suite, greenhouse, library and IT suite. The 212-home retirement village opened last year, and is home to more than 300 older people.

Construction on the cottages will begin this autumn, and the first residents are expected to move in during late 2017.

Each cottage will provide a master bedroom with an additional one or two bedrooms, a fitted kitchen, spacious living room, shower room and either a small private garden or a combination of balcony and patio area. They will also be designed to meet the needs of older people now and in the future, with charging points for mobility equipment and “knockout panels” in walls and floors to incorporate hoists.

Residents will also benefit from the care services at Bournville Gardens where an on-site team delivers support to a third of the community in their own homes. The Charity has an integrated approach to care and lifestyle as residents’ homes are linked to sociable Village Centre with a range of holistic well-being and fitness services. A sociable activity programme also ensures opportunities for volunteering.

The value of ExtraCare’s approach has been demonstrated by recent independent research by Aston University that shows care costs are slashed by more than a third at the Charity’s villages while health benefits for residents soar. This research played a role in ExtraCare winning the Outstanding Approach to Innovation award at the UK Housing Awards, which recognises innovative well-being and dementia services, the creation of cost savings and the delivery of better outcomes for people. Find out more!

The cottages will form Phase Three of Bournville Village Trust’s College Green development, on the site of the former Bournville College on Bristol Road South. When complete, it will combine housing for older people, including affordable homes for rent, with on-site health and social care facilities such as a GP practice and pharmacy.

Mark Curran, Development and Sales Director for The ExtraCare Charitable Trust, said: “Increasingly older people are looking for new opportunities to enjoy later life and this means providing innovative homes with the latest technology that support independence and offer a real alternative to traditional care provision. These cottages provide that alternative and are a welcome addition to our thriving community here at Bournville Gardens Village.”

Bournville Gardens Village is a partnership between The ExtraCare Charitable Trust, Bournville Village Trust and Birmingham City Council. The Village is a part of a £200 million development programme to complete at least five Villages in Birmingham with the City Council.

As follows:
• New Oscott Village, Erdington – opened 2010
• Pannel Croft Village, Newtown – opened 2012
• Hagley Road Village, Edgbaston – opened 2013
• Bournville Gardens, Bournville – opened 2015 (Bournville Cottages – opens 2017)
• Longbridge Village, Longbridge – opens 2017

The ExtraCare Charitable Trust enables older people to enjoy a healthier, happier and more independent future by integrating their homes, care and lifestyle.

ExtraCare is a registered charity based in Coventry. It operates 4,019 homes within 14 retirement villages and 17 smaller housing schemes. Each village or scheme has 5 to 18 social, health and leisure facilities that are accessible to more than 4,400 residents 3,000 volunteers and local people representing all age groups living in surrounding communities. ExtraCare’s 60 Charity Shops help fund care and well-being services for older people living in its villages and schemes.

Bournville Village Trust
Bournville Village Trust (BVT) is a charity and housing organisation founded by chocolate maker and philanthropist George Cadbury in 1900.
The Trust’s vision is to create and sustain flourishing communities where people choose to live and it does this by providing high quality housing and estate management services across Birmingham and Shropshire.
In total, BVT provides services to 8,000 homes of mixed tenure and 25,000 people. In addition, the Trust manages agricultural estates totalling around 2,500 acres.

An organisation dedicated to distinctive development, BVT is currently developing new homes at Lightmoor Village in Telford, Shropshire, in partnership with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) as well as a state-of-the-art Care Village in Bournville.