Proposed children’s care home in Treforest set to be refused due to lack of outdoor space, inadequate parking, and inappropriate location

A proposed children’s care home in Treforest looks set to be refused by councillors because of a lack of outdoor space, inadequate parking and its location.
The application to turn a residential property on Wood Road into a care home for children is going back before Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’s planning committee on Thursday, September 7 after the committee voted that they were minded to refuse it at a meeting in August.
The committee considered that the location of the development was inappropriate with a lack of parking provision, it would impact on
the local community and it lacked outdoor amenity space for future occupiers and now the strengths and weaknesses of going against officers’ recommendations to approve will be considered.
The proposal
The statement of purpose submitted with the application said the home would cater to young people, with a range of complex needs and issues.
The statement said that the care home would have a maximum capacity of five residents with each bedroom having en-suite facilities with a separate shower and toilet being available for staff to use.
The supporting statement said that all staff would be registered with or working towards registration with Social Care Wales.
The care home would provide the residents with a living room area, a dining area, along with an outdoor garden/ yard.
The applicant said that the conversion would not result in any external or internal changes at the property, except for some minor works.
Reasons for objections
Two people submitted letters of objections which said that there is no parking available at the property, and that there is a lack of parking spaces within the street, the street is already congested, the property would be more appropriate for students who don’t need cars, there are concerns with the loss of housing stock and rented family accommodation is scarce due to the number of HMOs in the area, there are no facilities for the teenagers proposed to be accommodated, there is no public transport in the area and there are concerns with the provision of two children’s homes in proximity to each other,
with another located along Tower Street.
Local councillor Steve Powderhill also raised concerns that the loss of another family home in the area would be harmful to the community.
He also said that concerns have also been raised that there are
Houses in multiple Occupation (HMOs) in proximity to the site with no control
of occupants with many properties housing people with social and other issues.
He also said that the highway is dangerous with inadequate parking
facilities provided for staff and visitors and he is concerned about problems caused within the area by another children’s home.
The planning assessment
In the planning assessment, the highways department said  the increase in parking demand at the site would be minimal and that one parking space was provided at the site and that the application site was in a sustainable location near both bus and rail stops  but councillors were concerned with a lack of parking provision at the application site and considered that the children’s home would represent a commercial operation with a lot of staff required. Members considered that the development would lack adequate car parking provision.
The assessment said some outdoor amenity space is provided to the rear and side of the application site, and the development site also includes land to the rear of the site, which appeared very overgrown at the time of the officer’s visit but councillors considered that the application site lacked sufficient outdoor amenity space for future occupiers of the children’s home.
Councillors also considered that the location of the site was inappropriate for a
children’s home, and that the proposed use would have a detrimental impact on the amenities of the local community but the assessment said that the area is predominantly residential which was considered acceptable for a children’s home and that all social care homes in Wales must comply with the Regulations and Inspection of Social Care Act (Wales) RISCA so Care Inspectorate Wales would be the ultimate judge of whether this is an acceptable location to register a children’s home.
Suggested reasons for refusal
But the planning officers have recommended these reasons be given for refusal if councillors are still minded to refuse the application ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The proposal would result in a lack of outdoor amenity space for future
occupiers of the children’s home. As such, the application would be contrary to
Policy AW5 of the Local Development Plan.
The location of the development is inappropriate, and the proposed use would
have a detrimental impact on the amenities of the local community. As such,
the application would be contrary to Policy AW5 of the Local Development Plan.
The proposal would lack adequate car parking provision for the proposed use.
Consequently, the creation of demand for on-street parking in the vicinity of the site would be harmful to highway safety, the free flow of traffic and the amenity of neighbouring occupiers. As such, the application would be contrary to Policy AW5 of the Local Development Plan. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​