The former site of Bournville College is set to be transformed into a £35 million retirement village and dementia care facility following a meeting of city planners.

The development of a 208 apartment village, 60-bed care home and 45-bed specialist dementia care facility received the full backing of the planning committee.

Bournville Village Trust, Birmingham City Council and the Extra Care Charitable Trust have teamed up for the development on the Bristol Road South site.

It is the fifth retirement village of its kind in Birmingham, with the others proving very popular with massive waiting lists for accommodation.

Coun David Willis (Lib Dem, South Yardley), a member of both the planning and health committees, said: “We know there is a real lack of dementia care facilities in Birmingham as a whole and especially in this part of the city. This is very welcome indeed.”

Coun Keith Linnecor (Lab, Oscott) added: “Normally I would be against building on playing fields, but in this case it is a very worthwhile development and there has been action to mitigate this.”

The developer has agreed to pay £200,000 towards playing pitch provision in the neighbourhood as well as provide public open space for the Village residents.

With planning permission now confirmed Extra Care can push ahead with construction work over the next two years, creating 200 construction jobs.

The six-acre Village will be open by 2015 and employ about 30 permanent staff. It will include a restaurant, gym, well-being centre, IT facilities, shop, café and landscaped gardens.

City housing chief John Lines (Cons, Bartley Green) said: “Five years ago there were no retirement villages in the City but now this is our fifth which is a remarkable achievement and testament to our strong relationship with Extra Care and other housing partners.”

Bournville College recently left the site for a new campus at Longbridge.