PROPOSALS to build a 60-bedroomed care home on the outskirts of a village would lead to the erosion of the rural landscape, according to planning officers.

Tri-Care Limited has applied for permission to build the home on land next to the Leeming Garth Nursing Home, Leeming Bar.

The proposed building is a two-storey T-shaped structure measuring 43 meters by 47 meters. It would be in two units, with facilities for elderly and mentally infirm people and would be accessed from Leeming Lane.

The applicants said the home was needed because of legislation published by the Department of Health last year. The legislation provided increased standards of care for people in residential homes and new requirements for the physical characteristics of buildings, which must be complied with by 2007.

The company believes that several homes in the area will be unable to meet the standards and will be forced to close.

The company hopes it will be able to provide the necessary replacement facilities.

But Hambleton District Council planning officer John Howe has recommended that the plans be refused. He said the proposed site was outside the development limits of the village and not enough information had been submitted to show that the home was needed.

He said: "The supporting information refers to other facilities as far distant as Ripon to the south, Darlington to the north and Leyburn to the west."

"While it is understood that most of these establishments will need to carry out works to comply with the necessary standards set out in the act, it has not been proved that this will have a direct impact on the need to develop a site outside development limits in Leeming Bar.

"The proposal would, by virtue of infilling space between the village and the complex of Leeming Garth, represent an undesirable and incremental growth of the settlement of Leeming Bar beyond defined village limits, which would constitute an erosion of the character of the adjacent rural landscape surrounding the village."

The council's development control committee will discuss the plans when it meets tomorrow.