New care home approved
Permission has been granted for a 71-bedroom care home in Priorslee, despite concerns staff will have poor access to public transport and the area already has a “chronic lack of parking”.
Care Home Developments Ltd applied to build the three-story facility on the south side of Shifnal Road, and the Telford and Wrekin Council Planning Committee voted in favour.
Councillor Chris Turley, who supported the plan, said: “We need more care homes and I hope there will be more in future.”
But the two members who voted against said the company’s plans, which was 12 parking spaces short of the recommended number, would add cars to Shifnal Road and pointed out that employees would have to walk more than 500 metres, late at night, to catch buses and trains.
A report, compiled by the planning department, said the company’s estimates of staff and visitor numbers meant 39 parking spaces would be needed.
The plans submitted by the company only provided 27, so highways officers had requested a £5,000 contribution towards parking restrictions in the area.
Councillor Nigel Dugmore said: “That’s nearly a whole third less than it should have.
“This is compounded by how terrible an area Shifnal Road is. There is a chronic lack of parking.”
He said parking restrictions would “displace” parked cars, but not remove them altogether.
Councillor Ian Fletcher, who represents Priorslee, pointed out that a supplementary document aimed to assure the committee that “the majority of staff, being local, will use public transport”.
He said the nearest bus stop and Telford Central railway station were more than 500 metres away, and the path to the railway station was “overgrown and not well-lit”.
“The university provides a private bus service for its students to and from the station, presumably because it has concerns about students travelling on foot,” Cllr Fletcher said.
He said that, unlike the students of the University of Wolverhampton’s Telford campus, nursing home staff would work round-the-clock shifts.
“It isn’t really acceptable,” Cllr Fletcher said.
Both Cllr Dugmore and Cllr Fletcher opposed the proposal, but the remaining five members of the committee voted for it.
Councillor Chris Turley said: “For me, personally, I think this is a good news story.
“We need more care homes and I hope there will be more in future.”
