WELLINGTON could get a new 62-bedroom specialist dementia care home if plans for the new facility are approved.

The new care facility would be built at Camelot House in West Buckland, as a  "redevelopment of exiting care facilities" owned by Camelot Care.

Proposed plans do not include the demolition of the existing 62-bed care home, Camelot House, or nearby Camelot Lodge.

However, the application states that the "number of bed spaces" on the site will "remain the same" as the new building is intended to replace the use of the existing Camelot House.

The proposed plans for the Camelot Care site in West Buckland, Wellington. (Image: Boon Brown/Somerset Council)The application, submitted by Boon Brown Architects on behalf of  Camelot Care (Somerset) Ltd, states: "Whilst, for this first phase, the proposal does not include the demolition of Camelot House, the new care home would replace all 62 bed spaces currently accommodated within this existing facility.

"With the retention of Camelot Lodge, the number of bed spaces over the whole site would remain the same i.e. 90 but with a significant uplift in the standard of spaces offered for the 62 residents currently in Camelot House."

It adds that the proposed development "responds to a significant and pressing need for dementia care provision", highlighting the location's links to public transport and existing services and facilities.

The site has support from Paul Coles, Somerset Council's Service Director for Adult Social Care Commissioning, who wrote: "I am in full support of this proposed development.

"It responds directly to the need to provide high quality dementia care in the Wellington area.

"The need is projected to almost double by 2035 and rates of dementia in Somerset are higher than the national average."