Anger as care home approved for quiet cul-de-sac
The public gallery burst into outrage as plans for a care home in a quiet cul-de-sac on the outskirts of Gloucester were approved this week.
District planners have given the go-ahead for renewed plans to turn a six-bed family home into a care home for a single young person with complex needs in Hardwicke.
More than 80 people objected to Mohammed Khan’s proposals for 15 Waterdale Close along with Hardwicke Parish Council.
Several attended Stroud District Council’s development control committee and spoke against the plans.
Planning officers had recommended councillors should approve the proposals.
And the meeting heard how the reduction in the plans so that it would only be occupied with one child and two carers at one time addressed their previous concerns.
They said there would be staff changeover but they did not feel that would be an intensification beyond the comings and goings from a large residential home.
Officers also said that, while the existing access to the site was “awkward”, there was not enough of a risk to refuse the plans.
Kevin Lee, of Hardwicke Parish Council, was among those who spoke against the plans at the meeting.
He said there was already one residential children’s home in the village for 18 people which has a vacancy.
“It’s not in the right place, it’s not suitable, it’s too close to residents and families,” he said.
And Tally Giampa, an objector, said nearby residents fully support the need for care facilities.
However, he said such facilities should be suitably located with careful consideration for child safety and the impact on residents.
He described the proposals as “naked opportunism” and said previous plans were rejected for the site due to insufficient information demonstrating the need for it.
“This remains the strongest ground for rejection for two reasons,” he said.
“Number one, the applicant does not have the support of the county’s children’s commissioner.
“Number two, the planning officer has not directly consulted the commissioner until recently, after publishing the report.”
He said the proposals could not proceed without the involvement of the children’s commissioner.
“The head of service has confirmed that applications for children’s homes are currently being declined due to an overprovision in the county,” he said.
During the debate, officers said the impact on neighbours was not deemed to be greater than those that could come about from a large six bedroom family house.
Councillor Gary Luff (G, Painswick and Upton) said he felt the committee should approve the plans. But with a management plan to “take the edge off”.
Labour councillor Dave Mathews (Cainscross) said he was open to that amendment but raised concerns that a child’s needs could change over time.
“What I wouldn’t want to do is either put an undue burden on a restricted number of carers so that they are suffering hardship,” he said.
“Or not be able to provide the level of care that a young person requires as their needs change.”
Conservative Councillors Demelza Turner-Wilkes and Mark Ryder, who both represent Hardwicke, spoke against the plans.
“We are trying to fit a square peg in a round hole,” Cllr Ryder said.
Labour Councillor Milly Hill (L, Cam East) said she had concerns over the plans.
“That driveway is narrow,” she said.
However, the committee ultimately voted in line with the officer’s recommendation to approve the plans by eight votes to two with two abstentions.
The decision was met with protests from the public gallery and one man could be heard shouting “you didn’t do your job properly”.
The public were then told to conduct themselves appropriately by council staff.