Fight over children’s homes
NEIGHBOURS WORRIED ABOUT DISTURBANCE IN QUIET CUL-DE-SAC
NEIGHBOURS are fighting plans to use two new houses in Oadby as children’s homes.
The three-bedroom semidetached homes on the Cottage Farm estate would be used to support children from “broken homes” or who have “learning disabilities” or “emotional behaviour disorders”.
Seventeen neighbours have objected to Oadby and Wigston Borough Council about A&R Guardian Services’ plans to provide accommodation for children aged between eight and 17 in a “homely environment”.
The estate’s developer, Bloor Homes, has also said it will launch a legal challenge to the proposal.
One neighbour said: “Disturbance would be caused through the type of children they would house and also increased traffic through carers, family visitors and friends of five different children.
“This would be greater than two families.
“This type of business is not appropriate in Cottage Farm due to the noise and general disturbance it would cause in an extremely quiet cul-de-sac where these properties are located right in the middle.”
Another objector said: “Although we feel that there may be a need for this type of care for children, and are sympathetic to the difficult situation these children clearly have found themselves in, we firmly believe that this is not the right location or neighbourhood for this type of children’s care home.
“I expect all residents purchased these houses on the understanding that they were only going to be used as private family residential houses.
“We find this unacceptable as this is so soon after the purchase of the houses.”
Bloor Homes said the change of use would be in contravention of a covenant on the properties which states they can be used for residential use only.
In a letter to the properties’ owners, it said: “We confirm it would be our intention to enforce these covenants in the high court.”
But council officers have recommended the planning committee approves the plans when it meets on Thursday.
The Cottage Farm development, which will eventually stretch to 150 homes, is under construction with the two properties being part of the early phase.
Objectors also raised concerns about this, saying that people who have signed contracts on homes that are not yet built may be unaware of the proposal.
But the firm making the application said there is demand for this kind of set-up for vulnerable children.
Stanley Bandawa, business development manager at A&R Guardian Services, told the planning department: “The idea is these children need to be raised in a homely environment in the same way I would live with my children, whether they have learning disability or not.
“These children may be coming from broken homes and they are under social services but need to be cared for so that they can get along with their lives by attending school and focus on what they want to do, just like another child.”