A MULTI-million-pound care facility is set to be built in Goshen after a final hurdle was overcome.

Six Town Housing (STH) got Bury planning committee's permission in March to demolish the former William Kemp Heaton care home in Howarth Close and build 60 extra-care apartments in its place.

Extra-care apartments offer older people an alternative to moving into a residential care home.

Residents keep on living independently, but have access to a wide range of support services and the new facility could have a bistro and a hair salon.

STH is being supported by Bury Council, which owns the land, and the project got a £1.85 million from the Homes and Communities Agency to help fund the development.

At a town-hall Cabinet meeting on July 20, councillors financed financial arrangements for the scheme.

Council sources that is the final hurdle before construction work begin.

Announcing the scheme last year, Cllr Rishi Shori, who is now Bury Council leader, said it would be the borough's second extra-care facility after Red Bank in Radcliffe, which opened in 2012 and has 40 rooms.

Cllr Shori said: "Like Red Bank, this scheme will provide high-quality accommodation, modern amenities and care services to residents, providing them with the privacy and dignity they deserve, with support and companionship available if they need it."

STH chief executive Sharon McCambridge said: "We are really pleased to be working in partnership with Bury Council, as their wholly owned housing company, on our second extra care scheme for Bury."

When STH got planning permission, a report to the planning committee said: "Nationally, there is a clear planning need to provide accommodation that enables greater choice for older people and supports them to live independently."