Our Proposals

Ringwood based Churchill Living is bringing forward proposals for a new retirement living development on vacant land at The Close, Ringwood.

Land off the Close, Ringwood represents an exciting opportunity to redevelop a vacant site in the heart of Ringwood to meet local housing needs and enhance the local environment, including make improvements to the street scene and improving the outlook to the War Memorial Gardens.

Churchill’s vision is for a high-quality, independent retirement living development comprising 20 one-bedroom and 11 two-bedroom apartments (31 in total) together with an owners’ lounge, guest suite, landscaping and car parking.

Residents will benefit from a communal Owner’s Lounge and coffee bar to promote social interaction and provide a space for events and gatherings, together with high-quality landscaped garden spaces.

All developments by Churchill Living provide high-quality landscape amenity gardens, designed for visual enjoyment of residents over 60 years of age, rather than active recreational uses. Planting is considered for longevity, colour all year, seasonal change, maintenance and local native biodiversity. Churchill Living have won awards for excellence for their landscaped gardens.

Parking

The proposal includes 13 parking spaces for the lodge, along with an additional 2 spaces provided for the neighbouring property (15 spaces in total), in addition to charging for electric mobility scooters. Vehicular access is retained in its existing location off The Close.

The typical age profile of those currently living at a Churchill retirement community is an 80-year-old widow, and around 50% of residents move from within a five-mile radius of the location.

It is generally found that those who do initially have cars tend to give them up soon after moving into a lodge, as they no longer need them given the sustainable, town-centre location and neighbourly living environment.

As retirement living is a very different operational use to residential or care home developments, Churchill has developed an evidence base across several existing Churchill developments. This concludes that Churchill’s existing sites typically have a parking demand of 0.28 spaces per apartment.

Need for Retirement Living

The New Forest had a Housing Needs Assessment undertaken in October 2025 as part of the evidence base for the forthcoming Local Plan Review.

The 2023-43 period shows a projected increase in the population aged 65+ of around 30% – the population aged under 65 is in
contrast projected to see a more modest increase (of 3.2%).

In total population terms, the projections show an increase in the
population aged 65 and over of 12,900 people. This is against a backdrop of an overall increase of 16,200 – population growth
of people aged 65 and over therefore accounts for 79% of the total projected population change.

Public consultation boards

Quality Design

The proposed redevelopment offers an opportunity to significantly enhance the character of this part of The Close, regenerating three aging buildings with a high-quality residential scheme on a brownfield site.

Churchill has taken great care to evolve a design that draws on materials found in the local area, so that the proposed retirement building reflects and reinforces the character of its surroundings.

This includes Hampshire red brick, with contrasting buff brick at the building quoins, and window heads and cills, alongside cast stone banding and grey slate effect roof tiles.

The building is three storeys, with additional accommodation provided within he roof space. The key elevation facing The Close utilises set-back buff brick sections to separate the building into distinct sections reading as three connected buildings rather than a single mass. The main entrance and communal spaces face onto The Close, activating the frontage, while gardens and quieter amenity space sit to the rear.

As part of the design evolution, a key objective is to enhance the relationship with the adjacent war memorial park that corners Christchurch Road. This includes new native tree planting, the introduction of metal railings and close board fencing to enhance the boundary, as well as resurfacing of the footpath along the western edge of the gardens. The proposed retirement living building itself would be set back 10 metres from the park to maintain a strong separation distance.

The choice of materials has been guided by the buildings that give Ringwood its character. The main walls are laid in Hampshire red brick that echoes the historic brickwork found across the town centre and along Christchurch Road. Contrasting buff brick addresses the corners of the building, window heads and cills around the main entrance to help to place the building within its surroundings. Black metal Juliete balconies add interest and activity to the building.

Before & After comparison looking north west from the entrance of School Lane.

Before & After comparison looking north from Christchurch Road, across the Memorial Gardens

Artists’ impression from Memorial Gardens

A strong record of delivery

Churchill have a strong track-record in delivering the sites on which they secure planning permissions and prides itself in delivering high quality developments that are robustly designed, costed and deliverable once planning permission has been obtained.

Two recently completed schemes in Lymington and Drayton demonstrate this dependability, and that we build what we get planning permission for and deliver on our promises.