An application hopes to build the 3 1/2 storey home in 282 Kings Drive, at the junction of Decoy Drive. Fresh plans to convert Eastbourne’s former telephone exchange into 72 homes According to planning documents, the care home would provide 24-hour personal, nursing, and specialist dementia care for the ‘frail and elderly’ population in and around Eastbourne. Thirty five new parking spaces would be built, including two disabled bays, as part of the development, and it would anticipate to employ 80 members of staff. The plans, which are available to the public on the Eastbourne Borough Council planning website, also include plans for a cafe, cinema, celebrations room, wellness suite, and sensory room, as well as winter and summer garden rooms in the plush facility. Put forward by Hallmark Care Homes, the application proposes to create a new entrance on Decoy Drive. The current Kings Drive entrance would be closed. The documents say 300 consultation leaflets were handed out to nearby residents, and a meeting has been held to gauge public feeling about the application. Concerns have already been raised by nearby residents of the application being an ‘over-development’ of the site. Mr and Mrs Gibbons, of Park Lane, wrote in a letter of objection to the plans, “The size and height of the property is overwhelming and would dominate the whole area to its detriment.” Hallmark is a family-owned care home company which owns 18 care homes across England and Wales, with the nearest being Maycroft Manor in Brighton. To view the full application, visit the planning website using the reference: 181178.
