Plans to extend home helping women overcome mental illnesses deferred after residents object
Proposed extensions and landscaping for a residential home helping women overcome mental health illnesses was deferred after residents objected on public safety grounds.
Cygnet Behavioural Health Limited wants to demolish and replace parts of the former Beechcroft residential home on Salop Drive, Oldbury, to create a 30-bed specialist care facility.
The former care home closed last summer after Halesowen-based owner Carlton Care said it was “economically unviable” to keep up with repairs to the 1960s building. It went up for sale with a £1.1million price tag.
The development was brought to councillors’ attention by Labour councillor Ellen Fenton after 20 objections and a 67-signature petition against the proposal have been received.
All objections raised concerns regarding the potential use of the property, according to a planning report by Sandwell council. Residents, in their objections, claimed to have researched the property, arguing potential residents could be criminals or people committed under the Mental Health Act.
Councillors at Sandwell council’s planning committee heard from one resident who claimed a deferral in the application was needed in the interest of “public safety”.
She said: “If the individuals who are accommodated at this site have been detained under the Mental Health Act, and indeed they are not allowed to leave that facility because they have been detained, then I don’t see why they should not be classed as C2A use which is for the provision of secure residential accommodation and secure hospital.
“There are a vast amount of adults and children that boundary the site as well as local schools, and it is felt that there have been a lack of recognition and consideration around the risk management for the planning of this site, especially in a residential area.”
The resident concluded her privacy would be at risk as a new occupational therapy cabin would overlook her home and garden.
“I will be able to overhear every single conversation that is had in that cabin impacting significantly on the privacy of myself and also the patients which is a fundamental human right,” she added.
Under planning classification codes used by local authorities, residents claimed the residential home would be used as a C2A – which includes prisons, detention centres, and secure hospitals.
The residential home currently operates as a C2 – which includes residential care homes, nursing homes, and hospitals. Sandwell council in report noted the refurbished facility would still fall under that category.
“It doesn’t suggest the facility would be any more secure than any other type of care home,” the report added.
Such was the concern for one resident, the applicant, Cygnet Behavioural Health Limited, issued a statement ahead of the planning meeting:
An extract of the statement read: “This is not a low secure unit, it is an acute service. Acute services provide a safe and stabilising environment for individuals who are experiencing an acute episode of mental illness.
“Cygnet are mindful of their neighbours, staff and other residents, and will not accept referrals from anyone who poses a risk to the community. It is not a step-down service for ex-offenders nor is it rehabilitation centre for alcohol or substance misuse.
“The service is very much about supporting women through treatment for mental health challenges, so they will be seeking to feel well again and recover in a place of safety.”
Jamie Pat, a planning consultant on behalf of Cygnet Behavioural Health Limited, told councillors
“Its primary purpose is to provide care and a safe place to help women recover. It is not a secure unit. Specialist internal or external security systems were included, quite simply because they are not necessary for the service being provided at Beechcraft.
“It will not accept referrals from patients who pose a risk to the community, nor does it accepts prison transfers. The overwhelming majority of referrals come via the NHS pathways and are all assessed by the clinical team to ensure their suitability.”
Councillor Ellen Fenton said: “Residents aren’t worried about their privacy. They’re worried about the privacy of women who are going there to receive a service and they’re entitled to that privacy. So I don’t think it’s quite as political.”
Notes to planners at Sandwell Council state that Cygnet Health Care “is an independent provider of mental health services which operates over 150 centres with more than 2,500 beds across the UK.
The planning application was deferred pending a site visit.
