PLANS to replace two "outdated" office buildings with a 75-bed care home have been given the go-ahead.
Fareham Borough Council has approved an application to build a three and four-storey complex containing a raft of facilities, including a cafe, cinema and hair salon.
The new care home at Wallington Hill, Fareham, will create 70 full and part-time jobs.
Planning chiefs received eight letters of objection to the scheme, with members of the Fareham Society describing the proposed development as out of keeping.
But the application said the home would provide a much-needed facility for people with nursing and dementia care needs.
It added: "The existing site is currently occupied by two buildings. Admiral House, which appears to have been built in the late 1920s, is a building of limited heritage value and has little architectural interest. The other is Nicholson Gate, a late 20th-century office block.
"The site lies wholly within the Fareham High Street Conservation Area, but does not contain heritage assets, designated or otherwise."
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A planning statement that accompanied the application described the existing office buildings as outdated, adding that they had been subject to high vacancy rates in recent years.
A council report said part of Admiral House was still used as offices but Nicholson Gate had been vacant for several years.
It added: "The site is located within the town centre and is therefore in close proximity to community facilities, services, and provision for public transport.
"In addition, the care home will include an onsite café, visitors' lounge, cinema, hair salon and an activity room for residents, together with communal lounges and dining rooms."
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The report said the creation of jobs, coupled with extra residential accommodation in the heart of Fareham, would contribute to the vitality and viability of the town centre.
"Given the current lack of demand for offices and the unsuitability of the site for other employment-generating uses, it is considered that a care home would be a suitable redevelopment of the site."
Objectors have described the application, by NL Care & Palace Capital (Signal), as "excessive" for the site.
But the report said: "The proposed building, whilst substantial in scale, is comparable to other buildings in the area, including Altavia House to the south and The Old Manor House to the north.
"Officers consider it will sit comfortably within the site and its surroundings."
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