THE latest vision for the £35 million transformation of facilities for mentally ill people at St Ann’s Hospital has been unveiled in Poole, giving residents a chance to comment.

The new plans are due to go to the council next month, more than a year after planners rejected the original £33 million scheme. A decision is expected by May and, if approved, building could start in November.

As in the first plans, the design means that the oldest part of the hospital, which dates from 1910, will be retained as an administrative and support services centre.

A single-storey 1970s addition will be demolished, leaving the listed building to stand on its own in the attractive clifftop woodland setting.

Building will take place on parts of the site that are already developed. A 1980s block will be refurbished to provide single rooms with en suite bathrooms and a new main entrance is to be created.

Project administrator Olivia Hamilton explained that the development had been scaled down from 144 beds to 108, only one more than exists at the moment. Tree loss would also be minimised and every one taken out would be replaced.

Car parking would be kept at the same level, and there are plans to set up a park and ride scheme at the Beach Road car park.

Trust vice-chairman and former Poole councillor Bruce Grant-Braham said of the redevelopment: “It’s desperately needed.”

James Barton, director of adult mental health services at the trust, said: “Every day we’re not doing this means service users in accommodation that’s less than the standard we want.

“One of the things we’re trying to do is to bring the beauty of the site, a sense of green space and light, into the buildings.”