A TWENTY-SEVEN home extension to a York sheltered housing centre will go ahead, after a council decision in its favour.

Yesterday planning permission was granted for the extension at Glen Lodge on Sixth Avenue.

The scheme will see 25 new flats built in a three-storey extension to the existing building, while two new bungalows will also be built.

The centre is also in line for extended "extra care" provisions meaning that residents will be able to get round-the-clock care and support from this month.

The new scheme will see Glen Lodge’s current extra care provision extended from 7am-11pm, to 24 hours, seven days a week - something that council development manager Kevin O'Connell told councillors on the planning committee had attracted the support of people already living at Glen Lodge.

He said: "We had no objections from the local community and current residents of Glen Lodge are pleased that the new extension will allow for the extension of care."

Committee members supported the extension but councillors Denise Craghill and Keith Orrell both urged the housing officers to look at installing things like solar panels and insulation to keep bills down.

Cllr Craghill said: "It would seem to me to make eminent sense financially for the council and for elderly people."

She pushed housing staff to go beyond standard levels of insulation that are set out in legal building regulations, and instead aim for "passive house" status.

Cllr Carol Runciman, City of York's executive member for adult social care, has welcomed the plans to extent care at the centre. Before the planning meeting she said: “Glen Lodge has always been immensely popular and these plans extend the support available. This means that the facility will be an option for people with more intensive care and support needs. It will also enable existing tenants to remain in their homes as their needs change.”

The plans are part of a city-wide scheme to modernise accommodation for older people. It has already seen some care homes shut, and some staff from the closing Grove House and Oakhaven homes are to move to Glen Lodge to provide the extra care.