PLANS to extend the amount of sheltered housing available in York are pushing ahead - with a planning application for a major extension at a Heworth site.

Care bosses at City of York Council have put in a planning application for the development at Glen Lodge on Sixth Avenue - and if it goes ahead the site will have 25 new flats and two bungalows.

All will have access to 24/7 "extra care" support, as the council tries to make sure more older people can stay in their own homes and keep their independence for longer.

The proposals for Glen Lodge are part of the council’s wider plans to modernise accommodation for older people in the city giving them more choice and meeting the increased demand as statistics show that in the next 15 years the number of people aged over 75 will double.

The Heworth facility was identified as a good site to extend both the care provision and the building, because there is already a scheme with good facilities and an established care provision during the day.

Last week the same programme saw councillors confirm that two council owned residential care homes - Oakhaven in Acomb and Grove House in the Groves - will close in the coming months.

While Grove House will be sold off for private development, council bosses want to find a partner company to develop another "extra care" housing site on the Oakhaven site.

A council spokesman said that each of the new Glen Lodge homes has been specially designed to meet the needs of people with complex care needs, including dementia.

The plans will go through the normal planning process and be considered by the City of York Council's planning committee in the New Year.

If approved, building will begin in 2016 and be completed by summer 2017.

Existing residents of the 42 flats currently at Glen Lodge had the chance to talk to council officers about the plans at special drop-in sessions organised in September.