THE devoted husband of a woman with dementia is urging councillors to support a care organisation’s plan for a new community centre.

The award-winning Pendine Park care home has applied to build a single-storey pavilion at its main site in Summerhill Road, Wrexham.

The building would give people the opportunity to get out of their environment and have a change of scene.

The plan is due to be considered by the planning committee today and chief planning officer Lawrence Isted is recommending that councillors turn it down.

But 79-year-old Malcolm Crosbie is calling on the councillors to back the plan – for the sake of his 82-year-old wife, Audrey, and the rest of the residents and their families.

Mr Crosbie, from Ruabon, said: “I wholeheartedly support the plans for the pavilion.

“The beauty of Pendine Park is that there is a lovely atmosphere that percolates through the place – it’s about treating people with dignity and respect and the pavilion is the embodiment of that philosophy.”

Mr Isted says in a report to councillors that the site lies within a green barrier where the principle of development is “generally unacceptable”.

He adds: “Whilst there is no objection to improving the quality of life of residents, given that extensive building works have been carried out on this site, it would have been more appropriate to have accounted for such a facility within these buildings.”

In November Pendine Park was praised by Wales’ First Minister Carwyn Jones on a visit to open a new dementia care centre.

Mario Kreft, proprietor, said: “We believe this is the first centre of its type in Wales and it doesn’t add anything to the business in terms of expansion – it is purely about well-being and trying to find a way to further enrich and fulfill people’s lives, to promote quality of life. The idea for the pavilion was a direct result of consultation with the residents and their families, it is a place they can visit at a time that suits them. It’s an opportunity for them to go outside the four walls where they live and is equally accessible to residents in each of the different homes.

“It is a timber clad building with high insulation values and a flat roof so we can utilise solar heating.

“In reality, it’s a relatively small building and people outside Pendine Park won’t be aware of its existence. When it’s landscaped, you won’t know it’s there.

“I would like to invite the councillors to visit the site and talk to the residents and their families, the people who will be affected by this and see what a difference it would make to their lives.”