A 70-bed care home in Kidlington for elderly people with dementia could be built by 2016.

Kidlington Parish Council agreed last year to sell on land at Gravel Pit Allotments, The Moores, to developer Castlemead.

Now the firm, which is building the home for independent care company Port Haven, has submitted plans to Cherwell District Council.

Tony Cole, from Castlemead, said the job should last 13 months and could create up to 70 new jobs.

He added that Kidlington was chosen for the new home because it demonstrated a need for increased dementia care.

Mr Cole said: “We are a developer with care homes across the country and for Kidlington we needed to build a home with a certain number of beds for people needing nursing care who have dementia.

“This home will include a kitchen, laundry rooms a cafe, hairdressers with the idea of keeping people as active as they can.

“The amount of beds makes it viable to build these facilities and also because of high demand.”

The building will also feature a secure cycle storage and 32 car parking spaces, as requested by Kidlington Parish Council last year, to avoid any increased parking in The Moors.

The home will have 35 beds on each floor split in to two wings, with 20 and 15 beds respectively, with an en-suite and shower facilities.

Mr Cole added that it will be a mix of patients who have paid for care, their families who have paid for them, and people being supported by local authorities.

According to Mr Cole, Kidlington was recognised as an area in Oxfordshire that needed new beds following a government report predicting how many people need care based on the people expected to have dementia over the next 10 to 20 years.

He concluded: “Recently we had consultation at the Exeter Hall in Kidlington and we had the support of 25 to 30 people.”

Kidlington Parish Council clerk Patricia Redpath said selling the land would bring funds to the Parish council for future projects.

She said: “The care home that Castlemead proposed was suitable for Kidlington because it delivers a community project and it delivers funds for the council.

“We have spent a lot of time researching this because it is a very beneficial project for Kidlington and the money used from the sale will be used for community projects.”

Resident Denise Brown, who lives on Banbury Road adjoining The Moors, said: “What they have not thought about is that to get in and out of The Moors is a nightmare anyway and now we are going to get really bad traffic.

“There will be a child or elderly person killed before they do anything about it.”

Resident Glyn Ayto, 82, said: “It seems like it is needed because dementia is taking an increase among elderly people and if it is needed then it is a good thing.”