THE fate of a former care home in Stow has finally been decided.

At a meeting of Gloucestershire County Council’s (GCC) cabinet last month, members voted in favour of Ashton House being sold for a new development which includes a GP surgery and housing.

The proposal for the site is a partnership between two developers – one which plans to build new homes, including affordable housing, and the other which proposes to develop the new surgery.

The care home, on Union Street, closed earlier this year with residents transferring to the new Jubilee Lodge Care Centre in Bourton.

Twelve bidders battled it out for the site – worth more than £1.7 million – which was put on the open market in March.

Councillor David Thorpe, county councillor for Bourton said: “Gloucestershire County Council has listened to local people and the proposals for this new site include not only some new homes, but also a muchneeded GP surgery.

“The council is moving to a more flexible approach for disposing of its assets to ensure it helps the community and partners wherever possible.”

Dr Tim Healy said: “We are extremely appreciative of the help that GCC has given us over the years on this project.

We are pleased to be working with a specialist developer.

“New premises will help us to deliver modern general practice to our community and we are delighted to move general practice into the 21st century in Stow.”

Following the decision, a planning application will now be submitted to Cotswold District Council.