MUCH-LOVED buildings at the Cashes Green Hospital in Stroud are saved in newly-submitted proposals to redevelop the site.

The lodge and an old three-storey building will make up part of the development under a scheme just lodged with the Stroud District Council local planning authority for approval.

It suggests 78 new homes will be provided altogether.

Of that total, 20 of the homes will be available for rent and 19 will be affordable.

Grand Designs television presenter Kevin McCloud's firm Hab led a partnership to come up with the scheme, which creates homes while retaining the character of the site.

It is the first time a community land trust would deliver a project on a site owned by the government's Homes and Communities Agency, said project spokesman Ben Lowndes.

The sustainable, community-owned homes and facilities, which includes allotments, would bring back into use some of the existing and historic hospital buildings, Mr Lowndes said. Conservationists have previously been unsuccessful in having the hospital listed to protect it – but had demanded the former red-brick ward buildings be saved.

Views

There was a lot of affection for the buildings in Cashes Green, local councillor Barrie Pierce said at the time.

Consultations followed and Mr McCloud said people's views had influenced his scheme.

"Working up the planning application for Cashes Green has been challenging and enjoyable," he said.

"The consultations we held with local people revealed a great deal about the site – how people remembered the old hospital and how they valued the orchard trees and former allotments.

"Those views altered what we did and so the plans we've submitted keep the old three-storey building on the site and the lodge.

Old materials would also be salvaged from existing buildings and re-used, and some structures left standing as memorable archaeology, he said.

It is expected that the council will make its decision about the Hab Oakus project in the summer.