A rural care home could get a massive extension under new proposals.

Iden Manor nursing home in Staplehurst, near Maidstone, is set to get a standalone extension after years of struggling to put previously approved plans into practice.

Hoama Ltd, the owners of the stately home, won planning permission in 2013 to add a 62-bed specialist dementia care facility.

Planning documents written for the owners by Cox Martin Design Ltd say: “Since 2016, the client has tried unsuccessfully to complete the project.”

The new proposal for a four-storey, 70-bedroom extension is intended to replace the previously approved permission.

The firm submitted the request on November 23.

The original property was built as a Victorian manor for the wealthy Hoare family in 1889 but has been running as a care home for 21 years.

Only “relatively minor” changes are proposed to the standalone extension, the documents say.

“More efficient internal planning” will allow for 70 bedrooms rather than 62, each one with en-suite facilities.

Balconies have also been added to the rooms, and solar panels and air source heat pumps will feature in the new extension too.

The new building will be C-shaped and three-and-a-half storeys high.

The developers write: “Although modest in extent, the changes will create an improved environment for both residents and staff.

“For example, increased window sizes and greater access to external balconies will improve natural daylight, natural ventilation, and access to outside spaces, which are all known to have a positive effect on mental health and wellbeing.

“There is a demonstrable need for good quality specialist care for older people with dementia and these changes will make it possible for the long-term owners of the site to bring this service forward in parallel with their current nursing home in the main Iden Manor building.”

It is not yet known when Maidstone Borough Council’s planning department will decide on the bid, but an internal target date of March 4 has been set.