Date: 12 June 2006
Eleven years ago, four residents of Painswick in Gloucestershire shared a vision: they were concerned about the lack of care facilities for the elderly, and wanted the village to have its own exclusively built retirement and nursing home.
Today, that dream is about to become reality with the completion of the first phase of a £20 million development by Richmond Villages, developers and operators of luxury retirement villages across the UK.
The four tireless campaigners, Tony Bradley, Leslie Brotherton, Philip Oakley and Norman Rampton, known locally as the ‘Group of Four’ (G4), undertook extensive research to define closely the need and opportunity. Public meetings won near unanimous public support, sufficient to convince Gloucestershire County Council – owners of the chosen site, to take forward the project on a joint basis. The team helped attract and choose a qualified developer, monitored progress throughout the planning process, and is currently associated with the building stages of their retirement village.
Leslie Brotherton said: “We knew that to get our vision accepted, we had to prove that there was a shortage of facilities for the elderly in the community. Moreover, it was crucial to have the backing of Painswick’s residents to ensure the success of the project.
“We achieved this by conducting a series of meetings, and writing letters to explain our research findings and our desired outcome – which would be to the benefit of the whole village community.
“Our vision was for Painswick to have its own world-class retirement village with nursing home facilities – something that didn’t exist locally – and built to satisfy a specific local requirement as well as attracting those wishing to retire to the Cotswolds.
“In 1997 the project finally got endorsement from village residents and we were able to help the Estates Department of the County Council move forward by canvassing for suitable developers whose designs and plans would meet our defined needs. It was also important that the final design was sympathetic to the local Cotswold vernacular. Getting planning permission was a lengthy and frustrating business but it was finally granted in 2001.”
Richmond Villages undertook a survey at the end of 2005 to gauge local perception of the company and Richmond Painswick. 85% of respondents thought that the design was in keeping with the village, 76% had not experienced any disruption through the building of the village and 53% said that the development would be good for the economy of Painswick.
Keith Cockell, managing director of Richmond Villages said: “As a developer of luxury retirement villages it was refreshing to come into an area where a clear need had already been identified and carefully thought through, and to have a site already ear-marked for the development.
“Working together with the G4 made our life much easier as we could closely match our proposals to the criteria set by the villagers and local council.
“With the first phase comprising 18 apartments now complete, we look forward to the whole site being fully open early in 2007.”
For further information about the properties available at Richmond Painswick, please contact: Susie Oakley, Richmond Painswick manager, Telephone: 01452 813902, info@richmond-villages.com or visit www.richmond-villages.com
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Note to editors:
Photo caption: left to right: Keith Cockell, managing director of Richmond Villages, Tony Bradley, Norman Rampton, Leslie Brotherton and Philip Oakley.
| Issued by: | Jeannette Heard | j.heard@lawsonclarke.co.uk | ||
| Press can also contact: | Anne Toomey | an2me@btinternet.com | ||
| Beth Lane | beth.lane@lawsonclarke.co.uk | |||
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Ref: RV18/2006
 Keuth Cockell, managing director of Richmond Villages (left), with (left to right) Tony Bradley, Norman Rampton, Leslie Brotherton and Philip Oakley at Richmond Painswick, a luxury retirement village built and operated by Richmond Villages, located in Painswick, Gloucestershire. |