A TRAIL-blazing plan to revolutionise care for the elderly in West Somerset by turning Watchet into a high-tech ‘Silicon Valley’ has been sent to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt and backed by local MP Ian Liddell-Grainger.
The scheme, the brainchild of Washford-based information management specialist David Chadwick, is seeking support for the UK’s first geriatric research campus – known as Grampus1.
It is hoped this could be built on the site of the former Watchet paper mill when it is cleared of the existing buildings in two years’ time.
Mr Chadwick said: “This would be the first scientific research campus to provide a high-tech solution for caring for the elderly in their own homes and developing the technologies to make it work.
“This could provide hundreds of high-paid professional jobs, transform Watchet into an international centre of excellence and provide a modern futuristic campus and major research facility set in pleasant grounds near the town centre.
“Already support is growing for the scheme, which would be an incredible development for the town and also revitalise the whole area.
“This is a vision of the future which we could make into very exciting reality.”
Mr Chadwick said he was contacting the current owners of the mill, Staffordshire-based Huntley Wood Investments, and hoped to have discussions about the possibility of developing the project on the now-derelict site.
The Grampus1 scheme claims that, by using the advanced technology currently available, more elderly people in West Somerset could stay in their own homes rather than go into care, saving the local authorities at least £3 million a year.