Houses to be turned into children's home as conversion approved

The home, at Attwood Terrace in Dawley, Telford, will accommodate up to four children aged between eight and 18, and will create 13 full-time jobs.

The application had sparked 46 objections from members of the public, who voiced concerns about potential noise and anti-social behaviour.

They also said house prices could be affected and the safety of existing residents put at risk.

But Telford & Wrekin Council’s planning committee voted to grant permission for the change of use, in line with the recommendation of planning officers.

The properties will be joined via an internal door on the ground floor, and a ground-floor extension will be added at the back of the house. Extra parking will be created to the front, making a total of eight spaces.

The committee heard the home would operate under a ratio of one staff member per child, plus a manager during the day. One member of staff will be on duty overnight.

Councillor Andy Burford, one of three councillors representing Dawley and Aqueduct, spoke at the meeting about the “strength of opposition from residents of Attwood Terrace”.

He said: “Their concerns include potential noise and disturbance, increased traffic flow on a quiet, residential street and whether the residents at the property in question will create more problems similar to those experienced from a local hostel in recent times.”

Councillor Burford said some of these issues had been addressed by the applicants, adding: “One would hope that the close supervision promised in the information provided would be sustained and that there would be tight monitoring.”

Margaret Hunt, a member of Great Dawley Town Council, also addressed the committee as a local resident and said her main concerns were around parking and the lack of information provided about who would be running the home.

She added: “We are removing two houses from a residential street which is diminishing the housing pool in a very nice area.”

Some committee members said they agreed with the neighbours’ concerns, including Councillor Ian Fletcher who said he had a number of similar homes in his area.

He said: “These properties do create parking problems, in spite of the size and the number of parking spaces that are available.

“You also get interference into the amenity usage by the neighbours. There is quite often disturbance at these types of properties during the day and during the night, which require visits from difference services including the police to deal with some people who are disruptive and who are disturbed.”

However other members said there was no reason to expect the children to be disruptive.

Councillor Derek White said: “We don’t know why these children are in care, it could be for any reason, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are bad kids.”

Councillor Janice Jones said she supported placing children within communities rather than in isolated rural locations.

She said there were “a lot of questions that are not answered” over the running of the home but added that it would go through “rigorous checks” before being allowed to take children.

Planning officers confirmed that the issue was beyond the remit of the planning service, and it would be down to Ofsted and the council’s children’s services teams to carry out the necessary checks and monitoring before and after placing children there.

The committee voted to approve the plans, with eight for and one against.