Retirement homes to go ahead on old council site

Plans to build a retirement complex on a site next to parkland in a seaside town in Devon will go ahead.

Housing developer McCarthy and Stone said it wanted to build a 70-bed care home with 88 retirement flats on the site of the former council offices at The Knowle in Sidmouth.

The plans were initially rejected by East Devon District Council but permission was granted following an appeal to the Planning Inspector.

The old offices were severely damaged by fire in a suspected case of arson in March 2023.

Devon and Cornwall Police said a man in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of arson in an investigation but no further action was taken.

The Planning Inspector said the main issues in question were the "character and appearance" of the area and the impact on neighbouring houses.

The buildings to the south and the east of the site are surrounded by The Knowle, a "substantial area of publicly-accessible parkland" which has an amphitheatre and arboretum.

The buildings had previously been the headquarters of East Devon District Council but they were left empty when the council moved to new premises in Honiton in February 2019.

The Planning Inspector did not believe the new buildings "would appear excessive in terms of their scale or height" and granted permission for the plans.

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