A PLANNING application for a dementia-friendly 60-bed £19m ‘care village’ has been submitted to Scottish Borders Council.

The Tweedbank Care Village at Tweedbank Drive on the Lowood Estate will replace the Waverley and Garden View homes once it is completed.

Plans were developed after council representatives visited a similar village in the Netherlands.

The system favours a move a way from institutionalised care by creating a “neighbourhood that is part of broader society”.

The care village will be made up of three blocks of 20 bed units with shared communal, support and community facilities in the form of a ‘Resident’s Hub’, ‘Social Hub’ and ‘Entrance Hub’.

The facilities should support independent and small-group living and promote social inclusion, in a safe and secure, non-institutional, environment for residents and staff.

The buildings will be set within an external environment which provides residents with space for socialising, exercise and connection with nature to promote a healthy and active lifestyle.

The facility will incorporate a cafe/restaurant with opportunities for community access and external dining, a hairdresser and nail bar and village shop.

A report states: “The facilities will support small-group living in flats of seven or less residents each with their own living/ dining/ kitchen areas.

“It will promote social inclusion, in a safe and secure, non-institutional, environment for residents and staff, where residents can have the day to day experiences of visiting the cafe, hairdresser, greenhouse or shop without restriction.

“This will include those residents with enhanced dementia. The buildings shall be set within an external environment which provides residents with space for socialising, exercise and connection with nature to promote healthy mental well-being.

“The Care Village will enhance and involve the community of Tweedbank by providing opportunities for social enterprise, a public cafe and the potential for groups such as school nurseries to use the site.”