Derbyshire County Council Cabinet has agreed to the proposal to close Derwent House Home for Older People in Ulverston Road, Newbold, Chesterfield, and replace it with up to 50 one and two-bedroomed apartments for older people and communal facilities on the same site.

The new development would be subject to planning permission being granted for the site and an application will be submitted to Chesterfield Borough Council at a later date.

The decision follows a 12-week consultation held earlier this year where residents, relatives, staff, local people and other interested parties had the opportunity to give their views on the plan.

Derwent House, a 40-bed home with 31 current residents, will close within six months and residents will be helped to move to alternative care.


Residents, their relatives and staff at the home will be told about Cabinet's decision in person today where possible.

Full assessments of all the residents' needs will now be carried out and support will be given to them and their families to make their moves as smooth as possible.

The plan to replace Derwent House with an extra care housing scheme is part of our wider £200 million investment plans to transform residential and community care services across Derbyshire, delivering dementia-friendly care and modern, purpose-built accommodation to older people.

The council's wider plans include:

•At least 1,600 'extra care' modern one and two-bedroomed apartments with on-site care in 27 locations across Derbyshire, available within five miles for most people

giving people the chance to live independently with their own front door and stay together as a couple

•two new community care centres offering specialist dementia care − in Heanor and Darley Dale, in addition to one already open in Staveley and another − Oakland Village in Swadlincote − which is due to open later this year

•two split site community care centres covering Ashbourne and the High Peak

•new day services and health and wellbeing zones across the county.

The wider plans were drawn up following countywide consultation which started in 2009 where people currently using our residential and day care services, their relatives or carers and staff were asked for their views on changing the way services were offered.

(CD/GK)