Children’s home plan in Poulton recommended for green light despite objections
Children’s home will only serve local children, says care provider.
Plans to open a children’s home in Poulton will be ruled on by councillors at Wyre next week.
An application has been submitted to Wyre’s planners for the change of use of a detached house on Blackpool Road to a children's home for up to three children aged 8 to 17, one manager and up to three carers.
Two carers would stay overnight working on a rota basis.
The proposals by applicant Wayne Lamb of Transcend Care have been recommended for approval by the planning case officer at Wyre.
However, the application will be presented before before Wyre’s planning committee on Wednesday September 2 at the request of Tithebarn ward member, Cllr Lesley McKay, citing concerns regarding the impact of the development on residential amenity, highways and parking.
At the time the planning officer’s report was compiled, some 14 public objections were received by the planning department.
These raised concerns such as evidence of an oversupply of children's homes in the area, a concentration of children's homes within a mile of the application site, highway safety concerns and concerns that the applicant has not demonstrated that there would be no adverse impact
Lancashire County Council Children's services have been consulted and confirmed that they object to the application as there is not a local need for this provision.
They have further confirmed that this stance applies to all providers, even those that to date have prioritised caring for Lancashire children.
The applicants have acknowledged the objections of LCC children’s services and has maintained that their operating model is directly aligned with LCC objectives and that they are a Tier 1 provider with a 100% track record of working with Lancashire and Blackpool placements and specifically confirmed that their homes are not used for out of area placements
Recommending approval for the scheme, the report by the planning officer states: “The proposed change of use to a residential care home for three children aged 8 - 17 is considered acceptable in principle and the use is compatible with the neighbouring residential uses whilst being within a sustainable location.
“On balance, the proposal is not considered to result in detrimental harm to neighbouring residential amenity such that it would warrant refusal of the application.
“The proposal would not result in significant impact on highway safety, capacity or amenity in the immediate vicinity of the site and would not result in an increased risk of flooding or lead to an increased risk of flooding elsewhere.
“The proposal is therefore considered to comply with the relevant policies of the Adopted Wyre Local Plan 2011 - 2031 and the National Planning Policy Framework and is therefore recommended for approval subject to conditions.”