Children’s home plan for Burnley set to be approved despite objections

Proposals to turn a four-bedroomed family house on the edge of Burnley town centre into a small children’s home are set to be granted planning permission despite 11 objections from nearby residents.

Councillors have been recommended to approve the conversion proposed by Northern Care Ltd for 13 Palatine Square. The building is a four-bedroom semi-detached house of traditional stone and slate construction in Trinity ward on the outskirts of Burnley town centre.

It has an enclosed rear courtyard and front garden with a front/side driveway providing three off road parking spaces, two reception rooms and kitchen to the ground floor and a bathroom and four bedrooms to the first floor.

If approved the home would accommodate two young people between the ages of five and 17.

Burnley Council’s development control committee has been recommended to approve the application with eight conditions despite 11 objections from nearby residents and one from Lancashire County Council’s children’s services department.

Three staff would work on a shift basis on duty throughout the day and overnight there would be one who would sleep in and one working nights with staff change overs occurring at 10am and 10pm.

A planning officer’s report reveals the authority has received 11 letters of objection on grounds including highway safety, parking, noise, disturbance, lack of outside space for children to play safely, the property is in the Palatine Conservation Area which is already socially deprived, potential anti-social behaviour, privacy and safety.

The Lancashire County Council objection says: “The provider, Northern Social Care Ltd, has not consulted about this proposed home to establish whether there is local need for this provision. There is already a very high number of agency children’s homes in Lancashire most of which are not caring for Lancashire children.

“Lancashire Children’s Services very rarely places a child who is under the age of 11 into a children’s home. There are already five other Ofsted registered children’s homes within a mile of this proposed home, with the closest being under 400metres away.”

The officer’s report to councillors says: “Given that the application site is within a residential area, the proposal to change the use of the application property into a children’s home for the care of two looked after children is considered acceptable in principle. The proposal allows for individual bedrooms and a playroom for the two children to have adequate private facilities.

“It also provides adequate staff facilities for the dwelling to change its use to a care home.”