Formal plans submitted to build new care home at former Vanners Silk factory site in Sudbury

Formal plans for the transformation of a defunct silk factory into a care home have been submitted.

Aria Care is seeking planning permission to demolish part of Gregory Mills – once occupied by Vanners Silk – and build in its place a three-storey care facility for older people.

The company first unveiled its ambitions at a public exhibition in late 2024, where it reported an overwhelmingly positive community response to the proposal.

The final application is for a 24-hour care facility, with 72 bedrooms catering to elderly and infirm residents with an average age of 85, including those living with dementia.

Spread across three floors, the home would also feature activity rooms, dining areas, a hairdresser, a coffee bar, staff wellness facilities, a space for functions and landscaped gardens.

According to Aria Care, 94 per cent of respondents to a survey last year agreed that a care home was the best use of the site, while 88 per cent supported the provision of a dedicated dementia floor.

It also cited Babergh District Council’s own assessment that there was a critical shortage of appropriate care services in the area.

“The site has been vacant since 2020, despite ongoing marketing for a range of commercial purposes,” reads a planning statement in support of the application.

“The proposed care home represents a sustainable future use, which strikes the right balance between maintaining employment and contributing to a specific housing need that has been identified.

“The council’s evidence base acknowledges a shortfall in care home beds to meet identified needs.

“From both a quantitative and qualitative perspective, there is a significant need for new and improved care home provision.”

The care home proposal specifically relates to the western half of the site, facing Gregory Street.

Meanwhile, the site’s eastern half, which looks onto Weavers Lane, remains as it is and continues to be marketed.

Sudbury Town Council voted this week to recommend approval on the Aria Care application, subject to an archaeological survey, and the ringfencing of community infrastructure levy (CIL) money for Sudbury Library.

At their meeting on Monday, councillors praised the scheme’s design for maintaining many elements of its historic setting.

Sam Thornton, chairman of the Sudbury Society, said he supported the principle of the facility standing three storeys in height, given the other buildings in the vicinity.

“We believe the three-storey element is required because, without that, the site has to be bigger to provide the number of units that it occupies,” he told the meeting.

“It’s a fairly intensively developed site. There’s not a huge amount of external space.

“We think the history of the site is important because of where it is, in the old Saxon town, and it clearly needs a very careful archaeological investigation.

“They [the developer] have made an effort. I think they have respected local features.

“We think this pays a far greater respect than the initial applications we’ve had from other national developers for other schemes.”