Former Dagenham convent could become care home
The Sacred Heart Convent in Goresbrook Road, Dagenham - Credit: Archant
A former convent built to support the families of Ford workers in Dagenham could be transformed into a 60-bed care home.
A planning application to convert and extend Sacred Heart convent, in Goresbrook Road, has been received by the council – two years after plans to demolish the building were rejected.
The proposed 1,871sq m development would provide space for 60 bedrooms together with dining areas, bathrooms, a kitchen, laundry and a main reception area.
Other facilities such as a coffee bar and beauty salon could also be installed.
Developers County Court Care could begin construction work in spring next year and open in 2017, if permission is granted.
You may also want to watch:
Previous prospective developers Croudace Partnerships had hoped to bulldoze the locally-listed building to make way for 20 two-storey homes, but were denied by the council in October 2013.
A report, put before the borough’s development control board at the time, said the building should be saved because it was a “prominent local landmark” and a “good and rare local example of an early 20th Century neo-Georgian institutional building [which] positively contributes to the character and appearance of the area”.
Most Read
- 1 Appeal for help to find boy missing from Dagenham
- 2 Barking fishmongers shut down by council after Covid-19 safety warning
- 3 'Terrifying' CCTV footage shows vandals take axes to cars of NHS workers
- 4 Call to change 'cash cow' yellow box junction in Marks Gate
- 5 Jailed: Dagenham man for role in 'brutal' attack on off-duty police officer
- 6 Barking and Dagenham pubs and bars reopen for outdoor service
- 7 Jailed: ‘Extremely dangerous’ Dagenham man who plotted terrorist attack
- 8 Police officer sacked after 'encouraging friend to lie about collision'
- 9 Becontree Estate designed after Spanish Flu 'helped prevent Covid deaths'
- 10 London elections 2021: City and East candidates make case for your vote
Built in the 1930s with a mixture of red and plum coloured-bricks, the building was constructed to serve the local Ford workers and their families, many of whom were Roman Catholic.
Matt Hubbard, 46, director of Nottingham-based agents The Planning Hub, insists the original exterior and character of the building would be kept in tact.
“In all essence it will stay the same and its longevity will be guaranteed,” he said.
“We’re doing what we can to retain the building.”
