McCarthy Stone is to carry out a public consultation on new plans for a retirement complex on land off Harrier Way in Petersfield.

The developers’ proposal will see around 100 purpose-built, specifically-designed ‘extra-care’ apartments, chalets and bungalows aimed at encouraging independent living, built on the land.

There will also be a bistro restaurant, a lounge, a wellness hub with landscaped gardens, and associated car parking for residents, visitors and staff.

McCarthy Stone will shortly be undertaking a public consultation on the proposals, including a virtual presentation, so local residents can comment on the proposal and give feedback.

But for more information now, contact the project’s freephone information line on 0800 298 7040.

It comes after McCarthy Stone, one the UK’s leading developers and managers of retirement communities, acquired an interest in land on the eastern side of Harrier Way, Petersfield.

The site on the eastern side of Harriers Way, Petersfield site is undeveloped and consists of open scrub, tree, and vegetation. The site has been allocated in the Petersfield Neighbourhood Development Plan for a residential, assisted living development.

The site also benefits from a previous planning permission approval from 2018 for the construction of an assisted living community of 71 dwellings consisting of apartments, cottages, and a community hub (pictured above).

McCarthy Stone says it will shortly begin a pre-application community consultation programme to inform local people, including residents, local councillors and interest groups, to offer them the opportunity to provide feedback, which would, where possible, be incorporated into the final proposals prior to the submission of a formal planning application.

Shane Paull, divisional managing director for McCarthy Stone Southern said: “McCarthy Stone believe that the site at land on the Eastern side at Harrier Way, Petersfield, is in a highly sustainable location to meet a strong local need for specialist retirement living accommodation. Over the coming weeks, we will sharing our initial proposals for the site, via a virtual consultation, which will provide an opportunity for the local community to provide feedback on the initial proposals.”

McCarthy Stone claims the proposals will also have benefits for the wider housing market, as those moving to the retirement accommodation will ‘downsize’, thereby releasing much-needed family homes and smaller homes for first-time buyers further down the housing chain as for every three moves into retirement accommodation, two first time buyer homes are freed up in the chain.

McCarthy Stone organises over 10,000 social events for their homeowners every month in the communal spaces provided in the developments, as well as day trips, helping to combat loneliness in later life more effectively. With their own front doors and the privacy of their own apartments, homeowners can socialise as much or as little as they wish, from coffee mornings to jazz and prosecco garden parties, there is something for everyone.