A developer has renewed its bid to replace a derelict Kingston care home that has been empty since 2017.

Developer RAA7 Ltd wants to bulldoze Hobkirk House, in New Malden town centre, to build an 80-bed care home with a communal garden, two disabled parking bays and two extra bays for deliveries and mini buses.

The developer submitted similar plans for an 80-bed care home on the site last year, but Kingston Council rejected the scheme after ruling it would be "visually intrusive and out of keeping" with the area.

RAA7 Ltd said it had addressed these design concerns in documents submitted with the new application.

It comes after the council originally approved plans to demolish Hobkirk House and the Noble Centre – a neighbouring physiotherapy practice – in 2022 to accommodate the expansion of Burlington Junior School.

The Noble Centre has since been demolished to provide extra play space needed by the school, allowing it to move from four to five forms of entry, while the remaining land was sold to RAA7 Ltd, including the application site.

The documents said the new plans for Hobkirk House would "provide a more efficient and larger new care home to meet local demand".

They added: "Overall, the development will provide much-needed residential care provision within a sustainable and accessible location that the council has identified a need for with an ageing population.

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"The council is requested to note the application is not for a specific operator but for the applicant to secure consent for an operator to then reconfigure to meet their own operational needs within the constraints of an outline consented scheme."

The council will decide on the plans in due course.

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