Council overruled in row over ‘noisy’ children’s home in West Bromwich
A plan to convert a West Bromwich bungalow into a children’s home for just one vulnerable child will not be too noisy for neighbours, a government inspector has ruled.
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A move by children’s home provider New Era Residence to convert a property in Lee Street in West Bromwich into a residential home for just one child aged between eight and 17 years old was rejected by Sandwell Council last year.
But the decision has now been overturned after a government inspector disagreed with Sandwell Council that the plans would be disruptive for neighbours.
In October last year, the council’s planners said the children’s home would have a “detrimental impact” for those living in Lee Street by causing more “noise and general disturbance”.
The conversion was “incompatible with adjacent uses or suitable for the site,” the council said.
The Government’s planning inspector said while there had been noise complaints, the issues came from individual behaviour rather than the use of the bungalow as a residential home.
"Children in care can have a wide variety of needs but there is no substantive evidence before me that they would all cause significantly harmful disruption to the neighbouring occupiers,” the inspector said in a report outlining the decision.
"The building is large enough internally to provide suitable accommodation for a single child as well as the carers and the garden is modestly sized given the number of occupants.
"The purpose of these types of care homes is to provide a normal as possible living environment for the child whilst ensuring there is support for them.
"As such, logically this use should be located in residential areas, such as this, to create a normal as possible living environment for the child in care."
New Era Residence was also backed by the Government’s planning inspectors in a similar but different case earlier this year.
The care provider was successful in its bid to overturn a decision by Sandwell Council to reject a new children’s home in Dingle Street, Oldbury, in June.
The local authority said the home for up to three children was “unsuited for the quiet, suburban area” but the inspectors disagreed saying it would create no more noise or disruption than a family home with three children.
