HAMBLETON councillors were yesterday to be recommended to turn down an application for a 60-bedroom residential care home at Leeming Bar.

Tri-Care was seeking permission for the two-storey development on land south of Freemans Way, off Leeming Lane, next to an existing nursing home at Leeming Garth.

Hambleton development control committee was told that the application had been submitted following Department of Health legislation last year which published requirements on increased standards of care and the physical characteristics of buildings in residential homes.

The legislation must be complied with by 2007 and Tri-Care contended that several existing homes in the area would be unable to meet the new standards, leading to a need for new or replacement premises.

Aiskew Parish Council, which also covers Leeming Bar, said the size and design of the new home was not in keeping with the village and there was concern about the effect on the local sewerage system.

North Yorkshire social services department said council policy was to support people in their own homes wherever possible and the development of extra care housing was the preferred alternative to traditional care homes.

The department had concerns, however, about the overall capacity of the local market to meet the requirements of people, particular those who were older and suffered from dementia, who needed nursing or residential care at an affordable rate.

Planning officers told the committee that the application should be rejected because it represented development outside designated village limits and, although it was intended to serve a social purpose, on the information received so far there were no special circumstances to justify an exception being made.

It was also considered that by filling an undeveloped space between the village and Leeming Garth, the scheme would erode part of the character of a rural landscape, the design and scale of the proposed building were inappropriate for the site and there were concerns about the effect of a vehicle access on trees covered by preservation orders