Fresh plans unveiled to revive fire-ravaged Grade-II building and create a new care home
Fresh plans to revive fire-ravaged Grade-II building
A bid to turn a fire‑ravaged historic building have gone back to planners, with developers arguing it can only be saved if it pays for its own restoration.
The latest submission from Heathfield Care Homes comes nearly six years after a blaze destroyed Anglesey Lodge in Anglesey Road, Alverstoke, Gosport.
The company is proposing to restore the Grade II‑listed lodge and add a new two‑storey wing to the south‑west to create a modern care facility.
Planning documents submitted to Gosport Borough Council state that the scheme is focused on keeping and rebuilding the most important original elements, while providing enough new accommodation.
The proposals are described in two parts: works to the original listed structure, and construction of the new wing.
Internally, each wing would be served by a new lift to improve access for residents and staff.
Staircases inside the building are designed to meet current guidance, while floor levels have been gently stepped to deal with changes in height across the site, using shallow ramps to maintain level access.
Bedrooms are planned to meet national standards for care homes and are fitted with wider doorways to aid movement.
The home is designed for 42 residents, with the applicant arguing that the conversion only becomes financially sustainable beyond 40 places, allowing the costs of staff, services, and building upkeep to be spread across a “critical mass” of occupants.
In the application, the family-run care home business said the realistic way to secure the lodge’s long‑term future is to give it a “sustainable, necessary” use that generates guaranteed income.
They said that without commercial viability, the significant funds needed to reconstruct key heritage features are unlikely to be committed.
The application reads: “It was recognised that the only way a heritage asset can assure its future survival is by means of providing a sustainable, necessary use. Specifically, this has to include commercial viability.”
Following the devastating fire in 2020, much of the former children’s home was reduced to a charred ruin and required a large‑scale rebuild.