19th December 2008
The Royal Star & Garter Charity Wins Approval for Hampton Court Site
At a full council meeting of Elmbridge Council on 18th December, councillors voted in favour of the proposed development of the Hampton Court Station site which will include a new care home for The Royal Star & Garter Homes for disabled ex-Service men and women. The Charity is based on Richmond Hill and needs to move from its current building in order to provide the best modern facilities.The new home will be part of a development by Gladedale which will include residential accommodation, a boutique hotel, a new riverside terrace and refurbishment of the Hampton Court railway station.
Vice Admiral Sir John Dunt, Chairman of the Charity's Board of Governors said, "After months of uncertainty we are delighted with this result and look forward to progressing plans for our new home as quickly as possible. This news will make a splendid Christmas present for our residents at Richmond.
Simon Weston, Vice President of the Charity said, "This fulfils the dream of Sir Frederick Treves, Surgeon to King George V, who was instrumental in establishing the Charity in 1916 when he said he wanted to build "a Hampton Court Palace for old soldiers". We look forward to moving to this wonderful location and becoming part of the local community."
The new home at Hampton Court, which the Charity hopes to complete by 2011, will accommodate 61 residents and will include a specialised dementia care wing, an area of growing and urgent need. Provision will also be made to support young ex-Service people injured in recent conflicts.
"Over the last few years the Charity has made tremendous progress implementing plans to build new state-of-the-art homes across the country to provide the best care for the ex-Service community" said Chief Executive Lynn McDougall, "Our home in Solihull, which opened in the summer, has been nominated for a number of awards and we hope to emulate this success with our new Hampton Court Home." Lynn added, "I would like to thank everyone who has supported our application and helped make this move possible."