New residential facility for young people with eating disorders could be on its way to Midhurst

The proposed change of use, submitted by care providers Elysium Healthcare, will convert the existing 15-bed St Margarets Convent Of Mercy in Little Ashfield to a 12-bed residential facility providing specialist mental health care for young adults aged 18 to 25 with eating disorders.

The plans state that the existing convent ‘lends itself to being adapted to provide a mental health facility’ due to its good degree of privacy.

Additionally, the existing entrance and access can be easily adapted to provide the security, privacy, care and observation that the residents’ will require.

The 12 residents’ bedrooms will all be at ground floor level along with staff, treatment, lounge, kitchen and dining facilities. On the first floor, there will be staff offices, a staff room and a tribunal suite.

The existing garden will be largely retained, though there will be some adaptations with new fences to improve residents’ security and privacy in accordance with Mental Health guidance.

The bedroom windows will also be retained if they can be re-conditioned to comply with NHS standards and provide the level of safety and security required for the residents’ care.

If not, they will be replaced with windows of similar appearance and configuration that meet the standards.

As the existing building is in good condition, its appearance will remain largely unchanged.

The building previously served as a Catholic school which was established in 1888 by the Sisters of Mercy; the senior section of the school closed in 2002 and became a junior school, before closing its doors for good and becoming a convent in 2009.

Established in 2016, Elysium Healthcare is part of Ramsay Health Care which operates more than 530 healthcare sites across ten countries.

The health care provider focuses on achieving personalised outcomes that are appropriate for each individual that they support across their four divisions of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Learning Disabilities and Autism, Neurological and Children and Education.

To view the full application, visit the South Downs National Park Authority’s planning portal using the reference: SDNP/22/03768/FUL.