Second bid to transform house into children’s home lodged

The first application for the property, on Wood Walk in Royston, was refused by Barnsley Council following 14 objections from residents.

It was turned down as Barnsley Council’s planning board believed it would be ‘detrimental’ to neighbours due to noise and disturbance, loss of a large family home from the borough’s housing stock, and ‘may add to the disproportionate and high number of children in care placed in the Barnsley Borough from neighbouring authorities’.

The applicant has now lodged a second bid to turn the property into a children’s home for three youngsters, and says the use will be ‘no different to that of a family home’, and staff changeovers will take place in the morning to reduce traffic.

Planning documents add that the use of the property as a children’s home constitutes a residential use, not commercial.

If approved, the home will employ 12 members of staff, and ‘enable children in care to live as normal lives as possible within the community’.

“The facility will be operated to the highest standards in accordance with stringent legislation that covers the proposed use, as well as being fully inspected by Ofsted,” add the documents.

The applicant states that the proposal ‘will not result in increased vehicle movement’, as the home would operate as a residential dwelling.

“The proposal will provide a safe and stable base for kids rather than forcing them into an institutionalised facility,” it adds.

Residents can comment on the plans until April 1