A specialist facility to care for people with brain injuries and learning difficulties is set to be built in the heart of a village – with residents angry at being kept in the dark over the plans.
Essex-based firm Consensus want to put up two detached two-storey care facility buildings on the former Uplands Nursing Home in Dorrington, knocking down the existing facilities in the process.
A formal application has been submitted to Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council.
More than 20 worried residents and parish councillors from Dorrington turned up to meet borough council planning officer Richard Denison on Monday to discuss the scheme.
Planning bosses have now written to Consensus, which owns the site, urging them to hold a public meeting and requesting more information about the facility.
Emma Charlton, marketing director for the company, said: “The site will be for people who have acquired brain injuries and for people with moderate learning difficulties who may also have complex health needs.
“Consensus hope the community will be supportive of a quality service to help local people with learning disabilities within the area so that people do not have to move far away from their families to get the support they need.”
David Davies, a local resident, said: “People living close to the site received a letter from the council to say this company is planning to develop the land.
“The company says it wants to use the site for a residential unit for adults with learning difficulties, but we feel that we just don’t have enough information about this.
“Richard Denison also told us that he would need more information from the company about how the building would be used.
“I would urge people to email or write to the council with their objections for this plan as it stands because of the lack of information about the kind of residents that could be housed here.”
Peter Fenwick, head of development control, said: “Residents raised a lot of issues about the home and how it will be run. We also would like this information as we don’t know anything about the number of residents, their ages, what kind of residents they will be or staffing levels.
“It was also suggested that they may wish to have a public meeting.”