Plans to build a 54-bed mental health hospital in Exeter have been approved following changes to the previously consented scheme.
Exeter City Council has approved alterations to Cygnet Health Care’s plans for the facility at Ribston Avenue in the Birchy Barton area.
Construction must now begin within three years.
The decision could finally unlock development of the hospital, which was first granted planning permission in December 2018 but has yet to be built.
The original application proposed a 54-bed independent hospital with access, car parking, landscaping, public open space and associated works on the former St Luke’s School site.
The approximately one-hectare site was earmarked for a predominantly two-storey hospital, with the building positioned in the southern part of the site and public open space to the north.
Under the original proposals, the facility would include 17 beds for men with acute mental health needs, 21 beds for men requiring longer-term mental health rehabilitation and 16 beds for women requiring treatment in a low-secure environment.
The hospital was also expected to create around 150 jobs, providing 24-hour inpatient care.
The revised plans retain the 54-bed hospital but remove first-floor windows and reduce glazing in parts of the building, reflecting the removal of previously proposed office and meeting room space.
Minor amendments have also been made to the site’s access and parking arrangements.
The approval gives Cygnet a renewed opportunity to progress the long-delayed scheme, which was originally approved in 2018.
Cygnet is one of the UK's largest independent providers of mental health and social care services.
More than 200 objections to the location for the mental hospital
The location of the proposed facility has been the subject of sustained local opposition because of its proximity to St Nicholas Catholic Primary School.
More than 200 objections were submitted when the scheme was originally considered, with further objections received before the application returned to committee in April 2019.
Concerns included safeguarding, traffic and the suitability of locating the hospital within a residential area next to the school.
The council's planning committee initially approved the development in December 2018.
However, before the decision was formally issued, the Hill Barton Residents' Association submitted a letter before claim in relation to a proposed judicial review, prompting the council to reconsider the application and undertake further consultation.
The scheme returned to the planning committee in April 2019 and was approved for a second time.
Council documents stated that the development would operate as a Class C2 hospital, providing care and treatment for patients within the acute-to-low-secure range.
Planning officers also made clear that the development could not become a Class C2a secure residential institution without further planning permission.
The latest approval relates to alterations to those original plans and provides a new opportunity for the long-standing proposal to progress.
Cygnet continues to invest in additional mental health infrastructure across the UK.
The company said in its latest impact report that it had completed a major growth programme over the previous two years, opening seven new hospitals and adding more than 230 specialist beds.
