Planning permission is currently being sought for a new mental health unit for adults with a learning disability and/ or autism at Langdon Hospital on the edge of Dawlish.

The project aims to "address the shortfall in local, specialised mental healthcare accommodation" in the South West and would provide ten inpatient beds alongside therapy, activity and treatment spaces and staff facilities.

It would be built on a former playing field close to the main hospital site entrance off the A379 Exeter Road.

Approximate location of proposed site (Google)

The building would be mostly single-storey, apart from staff accommodation above the reception wing. It would have pitched slate roofs and brickwork, rendered or timber-clad walls.

The unit's staff would be able to use an existing car park on the site. New trees are proposed to be planted around the building, and there is already an existing row of trees to the south.

Langdon Hospital is an NHS forensic hospital owned and managed by Devon Partnership NHS Trust. It provides forensic/ secure inpatient wards for male patients with mental health conditions detained under the Mental Health Act 1983, according to the CQC.

Click here to see the application.