Plan revealed to convert new Tipton houses into residential care home
A care provider has asked for permission to convert two recently-built houses next to an industrial estate into a children’s home.
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The move would see the four-bed homes in Barnfield Close, Tipton, built after approval from Sandwell Council in 2021, become a residential home for young people.
According to the application by Quintella Thompson, of care provider New Era Residence, the home would support “people with mental health needs, and young people who require personal and nursing care.”
The application said care would be provided for 16 to 24 year-olds but might change to support people up to 65.
“The occupiers will be people with mental health needs, and young people who require personal and nursing care,” a planning statement submitted with the application said. “The duration of stay for residents will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
“When both houses are at full capacity, there will be a combined maximum of six support staff members and one manager in the day, with similar numbers working at night.
“There are a total of six parking spaces, three for each property, which will be reserved for the care home staff workers. No staff will be permitted to park on the street.”
The application to build the new homes was approved in 2021 despite concerns from the council’s public health department over the amount of pollution and noise coming from the nearby warehouses.
The council said it had already received complaints from residents in nearby William Barrows Way over the noise from lorries, forklifts and vehicle reverse alarms as well as workers dropping tyres on the yard.
Officers said building new homes was “incompatible” with the surrounding warehouses and would not support the plan. The application was nevertheless approved by the council’s planners.
New Era Residence has lodged several planning applications for new children’s residential homes across the borough in recent months.
A move by the provider to convert a home in Lee Street, West Bromwich, into a residential home for just one child was rejected by Sandwell Council last year. But the decision was overturned after a government inspector disagreed with the authority that the plans would be disruptive for neighbours.
New Era Residence was also backed by the government’s planning inspectors in a similar case earlier this year. It was successful in its bid to overturn a decision to reject a new children’s home in Dingle Street, Oldbury, in June.
Sandwell Council had said the home for up to three children was “unsuited for the quiet, suburban area” but the inspectors disagreed saying it would create no more noise or disruption than a family home with three children.
