Ilkeston house approved to become children’s home despite local objections

The proposed children's home in Springfield Gardens, Ilkeston. Image from Google

By Eddie Bisknell – Local Democracy Reporting Service

A house in a Derbyshire town can now be converted into a children’s home despite objections from dozens of residents.

At an Erewash Borough Council meeting this month, councillors approved plans from Sterling Supported Living Ltd to convert a semi-detched house in Springfield Gardens, Ilkeston, into a children’s home for three young people aged eight to 18.

Council documents state that an opposing petition signed by 82 people had been submitted to the authority, raising concerns about parking, disruption, and the appropriateness of the conversion in a residential street.

Joanna Hall, speaking at the meeting on behalf of residents, said the new facility would lead to disruption to the adjoining home and that the houses were “wholly unsuitable for multi-occupancy children’s homes”, representing an “overintensification”.

She said there was existing pressure on parking spaces and that this application would worsen that situation, suggesting it would set a “precedent for multioccupancy use”.

Cllr Josy Hare, Labour’s lead member for health and wellbeing, said the application represented the “positive use of a building in a residential area”.

She said: “Children’s homes of this type play a vital role in the community, in a well-established neighbourhood, allowing children to lead a normal family life instead of in a care home, which will help support the children’s wellbeing and development.”

Cllr Ann Mills said: “A five-bed house like this could be bought by a family with foster children and that wouldn’t need planning permission.

“Children need safe family homes in family areas to live in.”

Cllr Kate Fennelly said: “We have had a family with five cars move into a house near me and there is no change in use for that. This will be the same as a care home. Children need to be able to be moved into the area they are going to live in.”

Cllr Harrison Broadhurst, chair of the meeting, said: “We had an extremely similar application elsewhere in a residential street which attracted an enormous amount of local responses, but the actual material changes were very minimal.

“This is a residential use and will continue to be a residential use, the only difference is the occupants are children who have lived very difficult lives. Everyone should be neighbourly to each other.”

Councillors approved the plans by a vote of 12 votes in favour to one councillor abstaining.