Upsall House in Nunthorpe to be turned into housing

Upsall House, in Guisborough Road, Nunthorpe, was rated inadequate after an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in November 2021 and placed into special measures.

Inspectors then re-visited the following June and July with the care home continuing to be declared inadequate overall, despite some improvements, and it closed later that year.

Redcar and Cleveland Council recently granted planning permission to knock down the care home and other ancillary buildings for the new development.

Nine of the new homes will be five-bed ‘executive-style’ homes and the remaining one a smaller three bed ‘gatehouse’ property.

The site, near Swans Corner, currently contains 15 car parking spaces with another 15 proposed to be added, taking the total to 30, meaning three spaces for each home.

A computer generated image showing how the new housing development will look (Image: SPX ARCHITECTS)

The applicant, Kathryn Stonehouse was previously a director and manager of the care home, with the site being owned by her family since the 1970s.

A council officer’s report said the application would respect the character of the site and its surroundings and there would be no significant adverse impact on the amenity of the limited number of neighbouring occupiers.

The planning permission was granted using officer delegated powers and was not considered by council members.

A design and access statement submitted to the local planning authority said the ten “contemporary” new homes would be built with high quality materials and embrace sustainable elements, including air source heat pumps and an electric vehicle charging point on each plot. 

It described how the grade two listed Upsall Hall, which once housed a council-operated adult education centre before being converted into high end residential accommodation, sits adjacent to the site.

While the view was obscured by trees, the new-build properties would still be visible, requiring the development to “contribute positively to the setting of the heritage asset”.

The statement said: “Overall, the scheme will revitalise the current appearance of the site, whilst sensitively maintaining and creating more beneficial amenity space.

The entrance to the former Upsall House care home in Guisborough Road, Nunthorpe (Image: GOOGLE MAPS)

“The modern and contemporary design will offer alternative living opportunities for locals and aims to create a wider degree of choice of housing types.”

The new housing will be located around an informal green and while a number of smaller and less substantial trees will be removed, some to accommodate improved access arrangements, 75 new trees are intended to be planted across existing parkland on the site.

Regarding access and the potential for increased traffic, the statement said: “It is likely that the overall population of residents entering and exiting the site will likely not exceed that of the current use.

“Therefore, the current Nunthorpe and Ormesby Bank residents will not be negatively impacted by any additional traffic congestion caused by the new development.”

A planning supporting statement by town planning consultants Orbis said the proposals “represent a windfall opportunity” to redevelop the site.

It said the aim was to produce a high quality development of “aspirational design” that will respect the existing site and surroundings, safeguard residential amenity and generate other material enhancements to the ecology and landscape setting, whilst delivering bespoke ‘executive-style’ houses of high design quality. 

It also explained how it had become unfeasible to continue to operate Upsall House without significant upgrades to its fabric and layout.

Prior to its closure the CQC had raised concerns about the employment of several staff who had no criminal background checks and also identified “very unsafe” fire risks.

Inspectors criticised the quality of the environment in which people resided which impinged on their dignity and found some rooms which should have been secure did not have locks.

Meanwhile, medical records were not always accurate and two people had received incorrect doses of their medication.

Speaking at the time about the decision to close, Mrs Stonehouse said the 30 bed Upsall House had been struggling financially and the situation had been made worse by the covid-19 pandemic.

But the care given in the home had been “second to none” and residents and staff were “heartbroken”, she said, at the very difficult decision to move people living there elsewhere.