From cop shop to retirement home - planning permission has been secured by Churchill Retirement Living for the construction of 47 retirement apartments in Wells, on the site of the former Glastonbury Road police station.

This development is poised to bring a new community into the city centre, potentially resulting in over £365,000 in additional annual spending on the local high street and creating around 90 jobs during and post-construction.

The apartments, set in landscaped grounds, are designed to offer high-quality, secure, and self-contained living spaces.

How the Churchill Retirement Living apartments could look

Once the development is completed, it will provide facilities such as a communal owners' lounge, a guest suite, a lodge manager, and a 24-hour emergency call alarm service, catering to the residents' needs for community engagement, safety, and independent living.

Stuart Goodwill, managing director of Churchill's in-house planning consultancy, said: "After a long and difficult planning process, due to the issues of phosphate neutrality, this is a very positive result and we will now look forward to starting work as soon as possible on this new development which will create a vibrant new community for older people in the heart of Wells.

"Retirement housing is the most effective form of residential development for generating local economic growth, supporting local jobs and increasing high street spend. "The new apartments will also help improve the health and wellbeing of those who live there, and meet the housing needs of many older people in Wells and the surrounding area.

"We are currently on the lookout for further suitable sites like this across Somerset and the wider South West region to bring forward more much needed specialist housing for older people."