A part-destroyed mill ravaged by a fire earlier this year could be rebuilt as a nursing home.
The former Hermitage Mill, off Hermitage Lane, Mansfield went up in flames on March 28 this year, requiring large parts of the Grade-II listed site to be demolished.
The site had been subject to an ongoing planning application to redevelop and extend the mill, making way for a 70-bed nursing home and 31 residential homes.
However, prior to the fire, Mansfield District Council’s planning committee was yet to give the redevelopment its approval.
But now the committee will discuss whether to bring the plans forward and give the applicant, Hermitage Mill Developments, consent to give the site a new lease of life.
Initial plans were for the conversion of the building, but updated documents confirm the company is now planning to part-demolish and rebuild the fire-damaged structure.
It follows a separate part-demolition of parts of the existing building following the fire in March.
Documents published ahead of the meeting on 9 May confirm the site would be rebuilt, extended, repaired and refurbished to become the 70-bed care home.
However, unlike the original plans, the extension would now effectively be attached to the newly-rebuilt mill.
A further 31 three-bedroom, two-storey properties are then proposed on the site as part of the wider planning application.
These would be based to the northern and southern sides, as well as the south-eastern corner of the site.
The documents add the homes would be of a “simple design” with pitched grey roofs, and all homes would have uPVC-glazed windows and private gardens.
The wider development will be accessed from the two existing entrances off Hermitage Lane, with 87 car parking spaces to be provided across the wider site – 23 specifically for the care home.
The report adds the part-demolition of the building’s remaining structure is necessary following the major fire.
It says: “Shortly after the fire, and before the demolition occurred, a meeting was held on-site involving the council’s conservation officer, a structural engineer from Historic England, a building control officer, the case officer and the council’s enforcement officer.
“On the basis of the visit, the demolition was considered necessary to be carried out due to structural and safety problems.
“Both the full and listed building applications have been amended to include the partial demolition and rebuild of the Mill.
“As such, the application now proposes to rebuild, extend, repair and refurbish the mill to facilitate the conversion to a care home.”
The council’s planning committee is recommended to give the plans the go-ahead at next week’s meeting.
