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Division(s):Chipping Norton

ITEM EX15

EXECUTIVE - 15 MARCH 2005

REDEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS FOR HOMES FOR OLDER PEOPLE

Report by Director for Social & Health Care

Background

  1. On 21 September 2004 the Executive invited the Oxfordshire Care Partnership (OCP) to submit proposals for the provision of 20 registered care home places in Chipping Norton on a site to be agreed following a full site option appraisal. This was subject to the Cherwell Vale PCT agreeing to purchasing an additional 12 places in the same facility. This was subsequently agreed by the OCP.

  2. This report describes the site option appraisal process, and sets out the conclusions. If accepted, the recommendations will lead to the provision of a new care home to replace an existing care home in Chipping Norton and the development of a new NHS Day Hospital and Primary Care facility.

    3. Site Option Appraisal Process

  3. WS Atkins, on behalf of Oxfordshire County Council and the Cherwell Vale PCT has carried out a full site option appraisal – considering all sites in Chipping Norton which are:

    1. currently available for sale, or

    2. of sufficient size for the scheme, or

    3. have been suggested to us by members of the Stakeholders’ Group or other interested parties.

  4. Each site has been considered under a series of headings – both physical and technical:

    1. Physical – includes size, location and public accessibility, topography, access, services, ground conditions and ecology.

    2. Technical – includes ownership, availability, planning issues such as Conservation Area/Tree Preservation Orders/Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty/Local Plan allocation, planning prospects, value.

  5. The key criterion is availability, given the County Council’s tight timescale for replacing Castle View. This has ruled out those sites where the owners may not be willing to negotiate, where we envisage planning to be difficult and/or where possession is likely to be delayed.

  6. The following requirements were applied during the appraisal process:

    1. we should try to avoid the need for temporary relocation of any of theresidents of Castle View – this is desirable in care terms and, in any event, the only property available for relocation would be Witan House in Witney which is not available until May 2006 at the earliest because of the relocation of residents from Spencer Court, Woodstock;

    2. the new Health Care facility should be fully available for use before any part of the existing Hospital is closed;

    3. there should not be any temporary relocation of any of the Hospital facilities;

    4. the National Health Service element of the scheme should be distinguishable from the Oxfordshire Care Partnership Care Home element;

    5. the new site should be sufficiently large to allow expansion in future – both in terms of increasing the size of the facilities being provided at the outset and in terms of the number and type of facilities to be located on the site. For example, other parties are already seeking to join the scheme, including one of the local GP surgeries and the "Clive Project";

    6. the PCT needs to maximise its receipt from disposal of the existing Hospital in order to generate funds for the new building - thus, if any part of the Hospital site is to be used for the new scheme, it must be purchased at full market value;

    7. the County Council needs to maximise its receipt from disposal of the existing Castle View site in order to generate funds for the Homes for Older People Strategy generally - thus, if any part of that site is used for the new scheme, it should be accounted for at full market value.

  7. The site option appraisal considered 11 sites in Chipping Norton, and of these sites 2 were identified as being able potentially to accommodate the new combined Care Home/Health Care facility development:

    1. CastleView/TheChestnuts/Ambulance Station/County Council garages/Hospital;

    2. County Council owned land adjoining Cromwell Park/Rockhill Farm.

    Summary Financial Analysis

  8. At this stage of the option appraisal our financial analysis is focused at a high level, on the technical and physical considerations and their potential impact on the delivery of a timely, cost effective solution. Consideration is also given to any adverse impact relating to what we have already planned within our capital programme and Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP), regarding the cost and receipt associated with this development.

  9. The Castle View site is complicated in that it is a difficult site to develop, which will result in the capital cost per bed being higher than that of the London Road site - possibly to the order of 30%. There will also be a need to either decant the Castle View site either fully or partially, whilst building work is underway, the impact of this financially will be greater than not having to decant on the Rockhill Farm site.

  10. Operationally the cost of the homes should be reasonably comparable, but there may be additional, but marginal, cost differences to counter the potential of Castle View not being the most efficient build option.

  11. At present the Rockhill Farm site option is the most cost effective solution, although as part of the due diligence testing in the next phase detailed financial analysis would have to be undertaken to ratify and quantify this initial conclusion.

  12. Neither option at this time conflicts on the timing or funding presently identified within the capital programme or MTFP, and this will be kept closely under review as part of the overall project management work.

    13. Conclusions

  13. The site that emerges as the favourite, following all the analysis, is the County Council owned land fronting London Road and adjoining Cromwell Park/Rockhill Farm. The present Castle View/The Chestnuts/Ambulance Station/Hospital site is the "runner up". Annex 1 (download as .doc file) gives a summary of the analysis and relative merits of the two sites.

  14. There has been a strong lobby for re-use of the existing sites, but the responses to a questionnaire prepared by the League of Friends of Chipping Norton & District War Memorial Hospital show that a majority of people would be happy with the facility anywhere in the town:

    15. Question – If all the money raised from any sale of the existing hospital was used to provide a new facility including:- x-ray, a full minor injuries unit service, maternity and all other currently provided services would you want this facility?

    (a) As near as possible to the existing site 42%

    or (b) Anywhere in the town 20%

    or (c) Anywhere in the town or outskirts of the town 35%

    No answer 3%

    Next steps

  15. There is therefore the potential for an exciting but complex development programme that will secure the future of care home facilities in Chipping Norton and the development of modern NHS day hospital and other facilities. The financial pressures on Social & Health care make it essential that any care home development is open by April 2007. There County Council and the Cherwell Vale PCT will establish a project team to oversee the development. The priority actins will be to:

    1. work up a clear plan of action for delivery of the site;

    2. produce a master plan for development of the remainder of the Rockhill Farm land currently shown in the West Oxfordshire District Council Local Plan allocation;

    3. seek planning permission for alternative use of the Castle View/Chestnuts/Ambulance Station site in parallel with the Care Home scheme, so that the applications may be submitted at the same time to form a comprehensive package and to work in parallel with the PCT with regard to their sites in Chipping Norton;

    4. continue to work up the detailed building scheme;

    5. agree the form of disposal of the site to the Oxfordshire Care Partnership and Cherwell Vale PCT and other potential partners – on terms to be approved by the County Council’s Head of Property. (There is a concern in Chipping Norton over the long term security of NHS provision in the Town, and it is proposed that officers discuss with the Cherwell Vale PCT the option of the PCT acquiring a freehold interest in the land on which the NHS Day Hospital would be built.)

  16. It will be necessary to continue to investigate use of the Castle View/The Chestnuts/Ambulance Station/Hospital site as a fall-back option, including the acquisition of the Ambulance Station site from the Oxfordshire Ambulance Trust, and this work will be included in the project plan. This covers work that in any event is necessary for the County Council to undertake.

    17. RECOMMENDATIONS

  17. The Executive is RECOMMENDED to:

          1. invite the Oxfordshire Care Partnership to prepare development proposals for the provision of 20 registered care home places for the County Council on the Rockhill Farm site in Chipping Norton;

          2. continued partnership working with the Cherwell Vale PCT for the development of linked social and health care services in facilities; and

          3. agree to officers discussing with Cherwell Vale PCT the option of their acquiring a freehold interest in the land on which a linked NHS facility may be built.

CHARLES WADDICOR
Director for Social & Health Care

Background papers: Nil

Contact Officer Nick Welch, Head of Service, Planning and Partnership Tel: 01865 815714

March 2005

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