Land sale agreed for new care home at former coal mine site
Wakefield Council has agreed to sell a plot of land to enable the construction of a new care home in the city.
Council leaders also agreed to spend £516,000 to build a new access road to the site at City Fields.
A cabinet meeting heard the sale would help address a shortage of care home spaces across the council district.
The 1.5-acre plot was sold to LNT Care Developments for an undisclosed sum.
The land, which was part of a coal mine until the 1980s, was earmarked for a retirement village or care home in 2024 and put on the market in October last year.
Council leader Denise Jeffery said the sale differed from previous council land disposals at City Fields because planning permission for development was not currently in place.
She told the meeting on Tuesday (March 17): “Care home developers prefer to submit their own planning applications due to their unique nature.”
Deputy leader Jack Hemingway said: “Looking at the site footprint, it’s clear that there weren’t many other suitable uses for this area of land.
“We also know there is a shortage of care homes across the district.”
The council previously said publishing financial details of the sale was not in the public interest as it was “likely to severely prejudice current and future negotiations.”
The new facility could be operational in two years.
Research produced on behalf of the developer said it was expected that 727 additional care places would be required within a four-mile catchment area of the site by 2028, with 1,847 required overall in the Wakefield district.
A new suburb of around 2,500 homes is expected at City Fields when a major expansion to the east of the city is completed.
The report said using council funds to construct the road would ensure other planned developments nearby could also be accessed.
The document said: “The delivery of this scheme will ensure that Wakefield can offer a high-quality care offer that meets residents’ needs within the shortest time frame possible.
“This route of disposal will ensure that the quality of the development can be maintained through the controls afforded under the planning process.
“The installation of the roadway and drainage will allow future phases to be brought forward.”
The site is part of a larger piece of land that was previously earmarked for the construction of 95 houses.
The residential scheme was scrapped in 2024 in favour of reallocating six acres for a new school to be built, with options for the remaining land to include a care home.
A report at the time said the site was better suited for education purposes due to “poor ground conditions.”
It stated that offices and pit buildings of the old Parkhill Colliery once occupied the site and some “relic” structures remained underground.