Chard could soon get two new care homes in a short space of time after new proposals were put forward.

Frontier Estates (Chard) Ltd submitted proposals in May 2021 for a 70-bed care home on the A30 East Street in Chard, near the town’s Lidl supermarket, which would be run by the Maria Mallaband Care Group as part of a £13m investment in the area.

Plans have now been published by LNT Care Developments for a second care home, to be built between the A358 Furnham Road and Chaffcombe Lane, leading to Chard Reservoir.

South Somerset District Council is expected to make a ruling on both proposals later in the year.

The LNT site lies on the eastern side of Furnham Road and has been marketed by Greenslade Taylor Hunt for development site since 2019.

Access to the site would be from Furnham Road, just south of the existing junction with Thorndun Park Drive – which will serve the access road to an approved new development of 295 homes and a new stadium for Chard Town Football Club.

The proposed care home will have 66 beds, arranged over two storeys, and will create the equivalent of 52 full-time jobs.

In addition to en suite wet room facilities in every room, the care home will include a café/ bar area, dining rooms, lounges, a library, garden room, cinema and hairdressers.

A spokesman for the developer said: “Residents will benefit from a range of facilities that reflect modern day-to-day amenities that provide a choice of entertainment, encourage socialisation and provide good well-being.

“Wide corridors are provided to allow ease of movement, interesting features and an open and social environment throughout the care home.

“The whole development is easily navigable, with key recreational/communal facilities clearly signposted and located in central areas to foster socialisation and inclusion.”

The site forms part of a wider allocation within the council’s Local Plan, forming part of the Chard eastern development area (CEDA), which is designed to deliver new homes, business premises and schools at the eastern and southern edges of the town.

The new eastern relief road, which will eventually link the A358 Tatworth Road and Furnham Road (via the A30) to ease town centre congestion, is expected to pass along the northern edge of the land where the care home would sit.

A decision on both care proposals is expected to be made later in the year. While planning permission for the East Street site has not yet been granted, approval was given in 2021 to demolish the existing buildings, which has since been completed.