Plan to build seven bungalows on former care home site in Peak District town

The care home was always kept neat and tidy as this 2020 view shows
-Credit: (Image: Derby Telegraph)


Plans to build seven family bungalows on the site of a former Bakewell care home have been submitted to Peak Park planners. Hilton Property Group Ltd is looking for a change of use from residential institution to dwelling houses at Gernon Manor, in Dagnall Gardens.

Gernon Manor was at the centre of controversy when Derbyshire County Council proposed closing it in 2020, along with six other similar venues across the county. Multiple protests and a 3,919 signature petition was handed in against the plans but the council decided to close rather than renovate the care homes.

The site was built in the 1980s and managed by the county council until its closure, which had been completed, and up to 30 residents moved, by 2022. Since then the site has been closed and not in use.

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The existing building consists of a central communal block with a series of lounge spaces and four connecting blocks, which formerly housed bedrooms for residents and ancillary storage spaces. It is this area that the developer wants to demolish. This would enable the bungalows to be built in four groups, using existing materials reclaimed from the demolition.

This is how part of the site looks now
This is how part of the site looks now -Credit:Halsall Lloyd Partnership

The site also comprises of two other buildings - a single-storey former care facility and a two-storey former staff house with adjacent garage space - which would be retained.

The design and access statement accompanying the planning application said: "The proposal would make a positive impact to an otherwise unused/vacant site whilst retaining important existing built features.

"The minimal amount of development ensures this part of Bakewell will not lose it’s identity, and the introduction of individual residential units will bring life to what has been an abandoned site for over four years in a sustainable location.

"Where possible, the necessary number of parking spaces are kept to existing areas of hard standing or within the footprint of the building to be demolished so that existing soft landscape can be retained and enhanced. These factors ensure the proposal will be appropriate within its context."