Former college campus transformed into £60m care village
A previously derelict site in Birmingham has been transformed into a multimillion-pound care and health village, creating hundreds of homes and jobs.
The site on Bristol Road South in Bournville was previously occupied by Bournville College but became vacant when it moved to Longbridge.
Following a seven year regeneration project, master-planned by Bournville Village Trust, the land is now home to College Green – a £60m care and health village.
It includes a 212-apartment retirement village with a range of social and leisure facilities, a care home with 80 ensuite rooms specialising in dementia care and 19 independent living homes.
College Green also includes a health and wellbeing centre incorporating the College Green Medical Practice which will serve patients across the local area.
The village which is home to over 300 people, has created around 100 jobs and has been made possible by a number of organisations working in partnership to deliver it. These organisations include the ExtraCare Charitable Trust, Avery Healthcare, GPs and the NHS Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group.
Duncan Cadbury, trustee and former chair of Bournville Village Trust, said: “We are so pleased to see the completion of College Green, creating a new community where older people can thrive and good-quality housing and healthcare is the focus.
“This wonderful community is now providing a range of housing and care options designed specifically for older people and a fantastic new health and wellbeing centre that will benefit not just those living at College Green but the much wider community.
“College Green would not have been possible without the partnership of so many great organisations each committed to the improvement of people’s health and wellbeing.”
Mick Laverty, chief executive of The ExtraCare Charitable Trust, said: “Our charity’s mission is creating sustainable communities that provide homes older people want, lifestyles they can enjoy and care if it’s needed. It has been fantastic to be a part of the College Green development, which supports our charitable aims.
“This community offers our residents the opportunity to enjoy the facilities on their doorstep, whether it’s socialising in the bistro, volunteering in the village shop, taking part in a fitness session or singing in a choir but also take advantage of local amenities such as the health centre.
“Like in our other retirement communities, facilities at Bournville Gardens Village will also be open to the wider community, enabling the village to become a social hub for families, friends and volunteers representing all age groups.”
