WAVENEY is set to house the country's first ever eco nursing home after proposals to extend Lound Hall were backed.Plans to extend the nursing home and create a specialist dementia care unit were approved by Waveney District Council's development control committee on Wednesday, February 18, in a development that will see 21 jobs created.

WAVENEY is set to house the country's first ever eco nursing home after proposals to extend Lound Hall were backed.

Plans to extend the nursing home and create a specialist dementia care unit were approved by Waveney District Council's development control committee on Wednesday, February 18, in a development that will see 21 jobs created.

Lound Hall nursing home currently has space for 43 residents and employs 55 staff, including eight qualified nurses. The extension will provide an additional 17 beds and create 21 new positions, including nurses, carers and housekeeping. The work will also see the reconfiguration of over half of the current rooms within the existing Georgian Manor house.

The extension, which will be built next to the main house, has been designed by London eco-architects bere:architects to Passivhaus standards, ensuring a high level of insulation and air-tight construction.

The part-one-storey-part-two-storey building will also come complete with a sedum roof, rainwater collection system, solar panels, wind turbine, and a low-energy heat recovery ventilation system, ensuring an ultra-low energy consumption level.

Each bedroom will contain full en-suite facilities, flat-screen television, telephone, broadband access, as well as overhead tracking for safe moving and handling of residents. They will also offer views of open Suffolk countryside and internal gardens.

Commercial director Christopher Christou said: 'We are so proud and delighted, especially that the council gave it a unanimous vote. We wanted an extension that would be ready for the future and having great eco-credentials was one of our prerequisites.

'It is a great opportunity, a ground- breaking project, and a first for the Lowestoft area. We are all for improving and setting the standard and are delighted that this will help the local economy by creating new jobs and the community by offering new beds.'

Managing director Mark Binns said at the committee meeting that the number of elderly people suffering from dementia in Waveney was set to increase from about 8,000 to a predicted 14,000 by 2017, so the new extension would allow for a specialist unit for dementia patients.

He said: 'The need to extend the building to improve service delivery is evident. The extension will provide 17 extra beds, as well as space for on-site external clinical support from dentists and chiropodists.'

Negotiations for the building contract will start in a couple of weeks and it is hoped that work will begin later this year.

Meanwhile, staff at the nursing home raised �152 for the Heart Foundation when they dressed up for the charity on Friday, February 13.