House can be turned into care home – despite objections

A CONTROVERSIAL plan to change the use of a house at Culcheth into a residential care home for up to five children has been given the go-ahead.
Culcheth and Glazebury Parish Council and six nearby residents opposed the development at Lions Den, in Holcroft Lane and one former resident supported the scheme.
But after considering the proposals, the borough’s development management committee decided they could go ahead.
Chairman Cllr Tony McCarthy said: “There were not enough reasons to justify refusal of the proposals.
The plan, put forward by REC North West, involves a change of use of Lions Den, a two-storey detached house on the roundabout at the junction of Warrington Road and Holcroft Lane from residential use to a care home for up to five children aged 8-18 with social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
The house would be split, with four children living communally in the front part, supervised by non-sleeping staff and one in a “house” at the rear, with a bedroom, living room and a second bedroom for a sleep-in member of staff.
Culcheth and Glazebury Parish Council objected on the grounds of inadequate information, inadequate consultation, lack of security and unsuitability of the location, next to a busy junction.
Nearby residents questioned the suitability of the site, drew attention to existing problems of anti-social behaviour, inadequate parking, the potential for the children to be bullied by pupils of nearby schools and the limited staff presence overnight.
But officers believed the site was suitable and that the impact of the property would be very little different to that of an ordinary house of that size