A breaking ground ceremony has taken place at a Hertfordshire County Council care home development which is set to generate £4.5m in social and economic value for the local community and create more than 50 local jobs.
The ceremony was held on the former Little Furze primary school site in South Oxhey and included representatives from Hertfordshire County Council and Kori Construction – the main contractor on the scheme.
The £17.5m, three-storey care home was designed by RDT Architects with sustainability at its heart. Set to achieve a high standard of environment accreditation (BREEAM ‘very good’), it will be powered solely by electricity and will have extensive solar panels installed on the roof.
Once completed, residents will benefit from beautiful, natural surroundings alongside high quality nursing care. Little Furze care home will include 75 bedrooms with integrated assistive technology to enable greater independence.
Residents will also have direct access to garden space from every floor, along with external courtyards, communal spaces and a café to encourage social interaction.
Elaine Kendall, Head of Sustainability and Communications at Kori Construction, said all stakeholders involved in the project were keen to ensure it was a ‘force for good’ even during the construction phase.
As a result, the contractor, working alongside the council and other community groups, has implemented a plan that will generate social and economic impacts to the tune of £4.5m in surrounding communities.
Elaine said: “A fundamental value of everyone at Kori Construction is that development can be a real driver of change in our communities, and our goal, as always, is to maximise the value we can derive from this project for the local area.
“The effect of this is significantly amplified when you work with partners, in this case Hertfordshire County Council, who are as committed to achieving positive outcomes as we are.
“As a result, we put an ambitious target on this project of generating £4.5m in social and economic value for this area.
“With the site preparation works now complete and the breaking ground ceremony heralding the start of construction proper, we’re working hard towards delivering that across the duration of the build.”
Speaking at the breaking ground event, Tony Kingsbury, Executive Member for Adult Care, Health & Wellbeing at Hertfordshire County Council, said: “We’re investing in redeveloping South Oxhey to meet the needs of local people.
“Our new care home development is delivering high quality nursing care provision locally and supporting our local NHS partners through the provision of quality services that will support hospital discharges and prevent people from needing to be admitted to hospital in the first place.
“This new development, along with a proposed new Day Service and extra care housing locally, demonstrates how we’re investing here and making sure that older people can access the support they need to remain connected within their local community, and live as independently as possible.”
Local residents Bob Maddox and Linda Gillen also attended the event to help keep the local community informed about progress of work on site, along with County Councillor Christopher Alley, district councillors Cllr Stephen Cox, Cllr Stephen King and Cllr Andrew Scarth and Watford rural parish Cllr Alison Scarth.
