Victorian house could be used as a home for special needs pupils in Wath

Acorn Care and Education have applied for permission to use the house, in Sandygate, as a home for four pupils who would also have two members of staff living on site.

The intention is to provide ‘what is intended to be a domestic rather than institutional type setting’ according to planning documents, which means there is no intention to alter the structure of the building or its surroundings.

The house itself is described as ‘a handsome Victorian Gothic house, built in stone with slate roofs and sitting in a largish mature garden’, which has a pub and a recreation area nearby, along with a mix of other domestic and commercial properties.

A mini-bus would be used to transport the children to and from school, with staff using cars for transport.

No consultations have been held over the proposals, planners have been told, but the school has similar former domestic properties elsewhere which are being used in the same way and “the new use has not caused any issues to date”, according to planning papers.

A decision on the application will be made later.