Ortons: Plans for 100 homes on former mental health site

The homes are planned to be built on the site of the Gloucester Centre on Morpeth Close, Orton Longueville.

The centre was run by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT), and hosted a range of mental health community, social care and child health teams and the Trust’s Peterborough Recovery College.

However, it was sold to Homes England as part of a £20 million deal earlier this year, which also included sites in Cambridge.

Councillor Gavin Elsey, who represents the Orton Longueville ward said: “I and the local residents are strongly against this scheme, primarily because of the traffic issues.

The plan talks of 100-123 houses and you have to assume a minimum of two cars per household and in many cases three.

“This means roughly 300 cars and the only access would be through the small industrial area onto Shrewsbury Avenue or onto the two already heavily congested roads of Newcastle Drive or Royston Avenue, both of which already suffer as a result of people using them as “rat runs”.“

When the sell off was announced in May, the trust said it was planning on staying at the Gloucester Centre for 18 months, while a suitable replacement site was found.

At the end of the same month, it was revealed there were proposals to move some of the facilities into the Town Hall in Bridge Street, after the city council moved to Fletton Quays - although the proposals have not yet been confirmed.

Residents are able to receive a copy of the plans by calling Savills on 01223 347 256.