Any issue with anything to do with land or the built environment must involve and reside with Louise alone, as she is the owner of land within the village and most of the farmland nearby (excluding the Jill Wellesley acreage). My last job in corporate finance was to create a series of retirement homes in dead space on NHS properties. The first thing you need is the land. The second is an operator with a good if not great track record. Then you need the money. Then you need the planning. Oh and then you need to improve access meaning roads which adds millions to the projects. Buckland is NOT slated for this type of planning in the current county plan, nor in the 2031-41 proposed plan. Indeed, it is within the darkest skies area for a village. Since Brexit getting appropriate skilled personnel has been an excruciating experience for operators, too. It is a complex undertaking and requires experienced individuals in the field. I know none of us want to leave Buckland, but this has to be something that Louise must be happy to envisage along with the necessary professional advisers.

Residential care is sometimes a good option but others would like to live in their own home with support for as long as possible. I wonder whether this might be an opportunity to explore other options as well.  If we continued this discussion more broadly to include questions like 'how can our community better support people  with disabilities in their own homes?' and 'what other facilities would help older people to live longer in their own homes', might come up with some other good solutions.

I think it would be interesting to find out more from older people in the village what they think. Perhaps a survey of some sort.