Care home to be built on site earmarked for new Tesco store

The St Mary’s land at Dean Road has stood empty since Tesco pulled out of a deal to buy the land and the Dean Road Depot in December 2013.

Today, Scarborough Borough Council’s planning and development committee is recommended to approve the three-storey care home plans for

Angela Swift Development Ltd.

The report into the look of the building states: “The building is arranged over one, two and three floors with an internal courtyard, providing 86 en-suite bedrooms with communal rooms.

“The ground floor has 33 bedrooms with a dining room and TV lounge, kitchen and office facilities.

“A garden cafe and hair salon are also proposed to the ground floor.

“The first floor has 27 rooms arranged over two sides of the ground floor building, over the north-west and south-west elevations of the building.

“The second floor has 26 rooms.

“Each floor would have a lift, lounge and dining facilities.

“In the roof space (loft area) a staff room, together with a laundry and plant room is proposed.”

The site is situated outside the designated conservation area of town.

Two objections were received from people living nearby.

One stated: “This site is allocated for housing and town centre uses.

“Residential care homes do not fall under this definition.

“We must allocate this land to families and first-time buyers, as well as commercial uses.

“This should attract a younger demographic which is important to this town’s future.”

The history of the Dean Road site has been a long-running saga.

Scarborough Council chose the supermarket giant over its competitor Asda but the plans never got off the ground.

In order to build across the former hospital site and the Dean Road Depot, the supermarket wanted to close Trafalgar Street West.

Local residents objected and took the supermarket to a public inquiry.

Tesco’s decision to pull out due to “economic conditions” came just days before the Government’s planning inspector ruled in its favour.

More than 6,000 people had objected to the supermarket opening the superstore on the site.

However, a Scarborough News poll found that nine out of ten people surveyed by the newspaper would have accepted Asda being chosen as the

developer.