Work to transform a former NHS conference centre into an assisted living facility can finally begin after additional plans were approved.

The Affordable Housing and Healthcare Group (AHH) was granted outline permission in 2018 to redevelop two redundant Taunton sites into accommodation for the over-55s – Lyngford House on Lyngford Lane, and Quantock House on Paul Street.

The Bournemouth-based firm – formerly known as The Quantock Group – has focussed its efforts on delivering Quantock House, while efforts to deliver 45 homes at Lyngford House have been held up by the ongoing phosphates crisis.

Phase for the first phase of the redevelopment scheme, comprising 30 homes, were approved in August 2023, but construction has been held up until mitigation for the remaining 15 properties could be agreed with Somerset Council and Natural England.

The council has now granted permission for phase two of the development, meaning work to redevelop the entire complex could get under way in the new year.

Lyngford House lies to the north of Selworthy Road, within walking distance of the Lyngford Park surgery and the Nerrols Farm housing development.

Under the outline planning permission, the site will be turned into 45 assisted living properties, comprising 33 new-build homes and a further 12 dwellings created by converting Lyngford House itself, the coach house and stables.

The initial phase of 30 properties (which includes the conversion of Lyngford House) was approved in 2023 on the basis that it could be delivered within additional phosphate mitigation.

To offset the remaining 15 properties (which will be concentrated at the southern end of the site), the developer will create a new “high-quality mixed species native broadleaved woodland” on arable land within the grounds of Cothelstone Manor within the Quantock Hills.

A spokesman for RSK Wilding (representing the developer) said: “The trees will be planted at a density of about 2,500 trees per hectare, and a five-metre strip would be left for a public footpath.

“The site will be managed in-house by the Cothelstone Estate, and a Section 106 agreement will be agreed between the council and the estate to secure the management of the woodland in perpetuity.

“The trees will be planted in the winter planting season of 2024/25. All trees will be protected by a boundary deer fence, with spirals to protect individual trees.”

The plans were approved through the delegated power of the council’s planning officers, rather than a public decision by its planning committee west (which handles major applications in the former Somerset West and Taunton Council).

Once construction begins, the existing access from Lyngford Lane will be closed off to vehicles, though pedestrian access will be maintained once the facilities are up and running.