PLANS for a retirement complex on the site of a former York pub could move forward next week after councillors were advised to back the scheme.

Retirement living developer McCarthy & Stone wants to build 28 “later living” apartments on the Copmanthorpe site where the Fox & Hounds pub once stood. Its proposals will be debated by a City of York Council planning committee on Thursday.

The authority’s planning officials have said they should be given the all-clear to approve the scheme once an agreement over open space, transport and a cash contribution towards affordable housing elsewhere, as none would be provided at the Top Lane site.

Copmanthorpe Parish Council has claimed the development would be “alien” to the area because of its size and design, while seven residents have also objected. But the council has been sent 34 letters of support.

The site is owned by CFK Developments and will be transferred to McCarthy & Stone if the plans are approved. The pub closed in 2011 after 150 years, despite campaigners calling for it to be saved. The council had previously given permission for 11 homes to be built there.

The same meeting will also discuss plans by Shepherd Homes Ltd and the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institute (RMBI) to build 14 homes in the grounds of Connaught Court care home, on St Oswald’s Road in Fulford, the scene of a long-running planning wrangle.

The applicants want to use two parcels of land, including a bowling green, for detached four, five and six-bedroom houses, with the RMBI saying developing part of the site will allow more funding for refurbishment and rebuilding schemes.

Objections have been raised by Fulford Parish Council and the Fulford Friends group, who say it will harm local conservation areas and a “community asset” – the bowling green – will be lost, although more than £19,000 will be provided for new bowls facilities at Scarcroft Green.

The council rejected plans for housing and extra-care facilities at Connaught Court in 2007 and a subsequent appeal was dismissed.

Recommending the new application for approval, a report by planning official Kevin O’Connell said: “The proposals respect the character of the two affected conservation areas, in particular the parkland setting of the Connaught Court site.”