Residents fear a road in Cheam will be “clogged up with parked vehicles” if plans for a new 15-bedroom care home are approved, with 36 objections lodged against the scheme compared with just one statement of support.
Sutton Council’s planning committee will meet on Wednesday to discuss the proposals for 32 The Avenue in Cheam, where a two-storey detached care home with roof and basement accommodation would replace a fire-damaged former nursing home.
The plans would provide 15 larger “apartment style” rooms offering specialist end-of-life care, with enough space for residents to bring their own furniture and accommodate relatives and medical equipment. Five parking spaces, a cycle store and refuse storage are also proposed.
The site was previously home to the Abbey Cheam Centre, a 24-bed nursing home which the applicant says was purpose-built in 1925. It was damaged by fire in March 2015 and has remained vacant ever since, amid a long-running battle to redevelop the site.
Parking is the leading concern among objectors. Norman Rodda said there was insufficient parking for staff and deliveries and warned: “Reliance on street parking for normal operations is not satisfactory. The Avenue will be clogged up with parked vehicles.” Gillian Suchy also feared overspill parking, claiming vehicles on Northey Avenue could cause problems for the S2 bus route.
The applicant disputes the parking concerns, with a survey submitted alongside the plans finding a “very large reserve surplus” of available kerbside spaces. It acknowledges the five spaces would be one below the council’s maximum parking standard but argues any overspill would be “insignificant”.
Residents have also taken aim at the scale and layout of the proposed home. Dr Yusof Omar and Mrs Lynne Omar, who live opposite the site, said there was a “desperate need to settle the future of this site” but claimed the plans represented an “overdevelopment”. They said: “I believe that this proposal represents an overdevelopment of the site and would have significant adverse impacts on us and neighbouring residents and the local character.”
Other objectors questioned the lack of a central kitchen and the amount of communal and outdoor space proposed. John Coen raised concerns about a “lack of communal/social space”, while Alice Toffanello described the absence of a main kitchen as “puzzling”.
Concerns have also been raised about excavation near a protected Copper Beech tree. The applicant says the basement has been redesigned and relocated to avoid an impact on trees, with an updated arboriculture report submitted.
The site has a lengthy planning history. In 2017, a 24-bedroom replacement care home was refused before an appeal was dismissed, with the planning inspector raising concerns about overlooking at 139a Northey Avenue and the impact of a basement and lightwell on the protected tree. A later 16-bedroom scheme was withdrawn in 2021.
The applicant says the latest design addresses those issues, with part of the building removed to tackle overlooking and changes made to the basement and upper floor. It says the plans follow around 10 years of applications and negotiations and would bring the fire-damaged nursing home site back into use.
The applicant argues the development would provide much-needed specialist care and local employment and says planning permission should be granted.
The councillors will meet on Wednesday, where a decision will be made no later than November 11. For residents of The Avenue, the decision ends a decade of uncertainty over a site that has stood empty since the 2015 fire — but only if the committee is satisfied that parking, scale and the protected tree have all been dealt with.
Other recent transport concerns in Sutton include delays to the 213 bus and calls for action from schoolchildren and parents.
