Residents anger at planning application

And they feel that a similar application would not be considered in places like Four Oaks or Sutton Coldfield due to its impact on local children, with the group claiming that ‘our kids’ rights are not as important as theirs.’

The privately-owned nursing care home on Handsworth Wood Road, run by Options for Care, caters for adult patients with a variety of mental health problems.

It currently has 15 beds – but an application has been made to add an extra 13 bedrooms.

Residents of Handsworth Wood Road are challenging the recommendation to approve the plan, arguing the home is already having a negative impact on the street and that children living nearby would be affected.

Last month the application was deferred by the committee to seek the views of Birmingham Children’s Trust, which has since declined to comment.

Now it is set to go back before the committee this week, with officers recommending its approval.

This is despite objections being raised by local foster carers, social workers and local school St Teresa’s, who say they have objected three times to the plans but have yet to have their objections recorded in council documents.

"This is not the first time the school has objected," says Sukhpreet Rana, a foster carer who lives next door to the home.

"The school has always been objecting, but they never mentioned about the school in any of the documents.

"This should be a safe environment for these children. One of my children was 18, just turned 19, he’s done really well, and he wants to stay with us for another couple of years, until he’s finished his degree.

"And he was in yesterday, and he said to me ‘It’s like they’re forcing us to leave this house. I can’t concentrate on my studies, sometimes it’s unbearable’.

"It’s not right what’s happening.

Impact

"There are hundreds of examples of planning permission being refused on the basis of ‘oh you’ve gone ten metres above, two inches above etc., and they don’t get planning permission for those reasons.

"And this is not just the building, it’s the premises which is going to impact on the whole area, and there’s been nothing."

Resident Ifeoma Woodlock has been one of the leading voices in the campaign against the proposals, and claims that men staying in the home have contacted children living in the local area in the past, something she says ‘sets off big alarm bells’.

And she also added that such an application would not be considered were it in a different part of the city, with Sukhpreet also voicing concerns around this.

"The fact that some of the children that are currently in care have even been contacted by some of the patients at the home – that sets off big alarm bells, it’s a safeguarding issue," she said.

"And people are just pussy-footing around it like it’s a small thing, but these are big fundamental things. What happens if one of those patients stabs a child?

"This is a big issue, and the fact that the headteacher has objected not once, not twice but three times, and it wasn’t even mentioned in any of the reports, just doesn’t sit well with me.

"We wouldn’t even be having this conversation if they’d tried to build something like this in the middle of Four Oaks. It wouldn’t be allowed.

"The committee would soon pipe up. And I’m just like, it’s almost like our views don’t count."

"Because we’re living in Handsworth Wood, that’s why," continues Sukhpreet.

"It’s because of the area, that’s what we want to highlight as well.

"We are not in Sutton Coldfield or Solihull, our kids’ rights are not as important as theirs. That’s how we feel."

Responding to complaints about the lack of inclusion of St Teresa’s Primary School’s objections, a spokesperson for the council said: "The objection from the school has been received and is noted and will be presented to Members of the Planning Committee by way of a formal update on the day of the Committee meeting itself."