WENSLEYDALE has the "chance in a lifetime" to become a national flagship site for a new type of housing for the elderly.

Supporters hope the "extra care" scheme could be developed at Bainbridge in the next two to three years.

A housing association would build apartments for rent, where tenants would stay for the rest of their lives. The amount of care they received would increase as their needs grew.

Similar schemes already exist at Brompton, near Northallerton, and Scarborough and are proposed for Stokesley, Knaresborough and Settle.

The Government has £170m available for such schemes over the next two years and is believed to be looking for a flagship rural location.

The highways depot in Bainbridge has been suggested as a location, although the Yorkshire Dales National Park authority is eyeing the site for its new northern headquarters.

A feasibility study into whether the £4m housing scheme and the park offices could both be accommodated on the site has begun and a report is due in November.

If it is not suitable for both, supporters of the housing project suggest the park authority base could move to Hawes.

Coun John Blackie, county councillor for the upper dales, said: "On offer now at Bainbridge is a chance in a lifetime to provide locally an absolutely first class healthcare provision for elderly people in a deeply rural area."

The scheme could include provision for people who developed dementia as they aged.

Sycamore Close, Richmondshire District Council's sheltered housing scheme at Bainbridge, was due for refurbishment and £1.5m set aside for the project could be re-channelled into the extra care project, he said.

High Hall, the nearby county council elderly people's home, was becoming outdated and could be converted to homes and sold.

Both would remain open until the complex, which would include a small shop and restaurant and a guest suite, was completed.

Coun Yvonne Peacock, ward member on the district council, who lives in Bainbridge, fully backed the extra care concept.

"We have the possibility of funding, High Hall is becoming unsuitable, Sycamore Close needs refurbishing and we have the ideal site within the village. To have all those things in place at the same time must be a good sign," she said.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire social services said Department of Health funding was also available for extra care schemes.