Plans to knock down and redevelop a long-abandoned care home often targeted by vandals have been unveiled.
Churchill Living hope to revive the former Kingsfield Care Centre in Jubilee Way, Faversham, and turn it into a retirement village.
The centre was only open for nine years before being forced to close in 2018, with 51 residents turfed out with just a few weeks notice after significant structural issues were found.
The building soon became derelict, with animals nesting inside and reports of break-ins.
In a planning application, Churchill Living bosses say they want to take advantage of the plot’s proximity to the town centre while pointing out one in five Faversham residents are now above retirement age.
Bosses behind the scheme told Swale Borough Council: “The development will encourage companionship, reduce loneliness and social isolation.
“It will encourage independence in later life with suitably designed housing and reducing reliance on residential and nursing care.”
“The site is situated in an area of good amenity well suited to Churchill Living’s market demographic who are typically basket shoppers and who are likely to give up their car to live in a community such as the proposed.”
The main building would be knocked down and rebuilt, with 48 one-and-two-bed apartments across three storeys as well as a lounge.
There would also be three two-bed cottages built next to it with a courtyard garden, 30 parking spaces and an onsite lodge manager to oversee the residents.
The history of Kingsfield Care Centre is complex, with arguments over costs to fix it, multiple damning CQC inspections and even an attempted murder.
In late December 2016, Dennis Latter, then 78, attacked 89-year-old Betty Wood with a blunt kitchen knife. His battle with vascular dementia had led him to believe his possessions were being stolen.
He inflicted 49 wounds on Mrs Wood as she lay in bed in the morning.
Following his arrest, the pensioner was charged with attempted murder but was deemed unfit to stand trial at Maidstone Crown Court later the same year.
The victim died before the court’s decision – though not of injuries sustained in the attack – and Latter was sectioned as a result of the incident.
A succession of Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspections in 2015, 2016 and 2017 rated Kingsfield as ‘Requires improvement’.
In its last inspection before the closure, there was not even a registered manager in charge.
Officials flagged concerns over breaches of legal requirements – such as staffing levels being too low – alongside leadership instability. The CQC stressed more needed to be done to improve outcomes for residents.
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