NEARLY 40 jobs are expected to be created after proposals for a new nursing home were approved by Burnley councillors.
Blueprints for a 65-room complex off Pendle Way will complete the regeneration of a site in the shadow of the M65, which is already home to a new Holiday Inn Express.
Thirty nurses and various administration and support staff will need to be hired for the home, according to Leeds-based developers Tanyaco.
Planning agent Humphrey Cook said: “The nursing home would operate 24 hours, involving three shifts of staff, the levels of which vary with the time of day or night.”
No timetable has been set for the construction and the finer details, including access and layout, will be applied for at a later date.
Councillors from the authority’s development control committee approved the bid after being told it did not run contrary to the borough’s planning policies.
Previously the land had been earmarked for offices but the developers said market conditions had changed and a nursing home was far more viable. Part of the nursing complex will be three storeys high but the agents say that this is easily overshadowed by the hotel next door.
Only one e-mail was sent to Burnley Council protesting about the application, complaining that it represents an invasion of privacy.
Concerns were also raised about proposed tree screening and the intention to position a 25-space car park backing directly onto Bamburgh Drive.
Coun Jonathan Gilbert, who represents the Whittlefield with Ightenhill ward, said: “The truth is we all get old and we will need looking after at one time in our lives.
“I hope the facility turns out to be a quality one.
“There is no reasons why we should doubt the standards of the home and I am sure there will be regular inspections to keep the standards high.”
