PLANS for a £25 million care complex within two miles of Romsey are set to be lodged in the next fortnight.

Renaissance Lifecare already has a flourishing "care village" at Bentley Cross, Dorchester, and it is planning its second major development at Nursling.

It has drawn up plans for a 115-unit complex on the former Atherley School site at Grove Place and those plans will soon be sent to Test Valley Borough Council.

Talks between Renaissance Lifecare and both English Heritage and council planners have already taken place concerning changes to the listed Elizabethan building.

Grove Place went on the market after Atherley School moved out in September to merge with Embley Park School, to form Hampshire Collegiate College at the Embley Park campus.

Renaissance Lifecare's managing director, Gavin Aleksich, said the plans would involve restoration and refurbishment of the main house, which is a Grade 1 listed building, plus the construction of living accommodation in the grounds.

"What we are looking at is 115 units supported by the manor house, which will be refurbished and will provide the community facilities," said Mr Aleksich.

"Some of the buildings in the grounds will be refurbished and used and others will be pulled down and replaced."

He explained that residents would have all the necessary facilities, including a restaurant and dining room, billiard room, a craft and art studio, a fitness suite and a hydro-therapy pool.

There would also be clinics where specialists, including physiotherapists and chiropractors, could bring treatment to the residents, as well as 24-hour clinical cover provided by qualified nurses and assistants on site.

"There are some people who require no care and some who require full-time care and this gives people a chance to live where it doesn't matter where they are in that spectrum," said Mr Aleksich.

"They will have the facilities to cook their own meals and they will also have the opportunity to have their meals cooked for them in the restaurant."

"We appreciate that a lot of people over the age of 65 are very fit and very active and are involved in what goes on around them in the community," Mr Aleksich said.

"We will have one and two-bed units and, in this age of computers and the internet, there is scope for one of the rooms to be used as an office or study."

The Renaissance Lifecare managing director was previously chief executive of Metlife, the biggest provider of care villages in New Zealand.

He pointed out that Grove Place was in an ideal situation with major centres nearby - the nearest superstore is under two miles away - yet in a rural location with the benefit of picturesque grounds.

He is confident there will be a demand for units. He said: "In the next 20 years, the population of over-65s is going to double."

The exact timescale of the scheme has yet to be finalised, but Mr Aleksich is hoping to have planning approval by June or July, although the plan does have to go to the Secretary of State for the Environment because the main building is listed.