Keynsham children’s care home application is rejected

AN APPLICATION to turn a house in Keynsham into a children’s care home has been refused.

The property at 8a The Avenue has been used as a house in multiple occupation (HMO) providing supported accommodation for up to six young people aged 16 to 21.

Focus Futures Care, Support & Learning had asked Bath & North East Somerset Council to issue a certificate of lawfulness so it could become a children’s care home instead.

But the council has ruled that the change of use is not permitted development and will therefore need full planning permission.

In its application, Focus Futures had told the council there would be a maximum of five young people in the home. Staff would be on site 24 hours a day, supported by a manager and on-call system.
There would be at least one staff member to every two young people, and the maximum number of staff on shift would be three.

The applicant said all staff would be trained on safeguarding and behaviour management as part of their induction.

The house would operate similar to a domestic household, with shared living, staff and young people eating meals and watching TV together, and morning and evening routines. Visitors would need to make an appointment in advance.

The house has its own private driveway for up to four cars. The young people and staff would also be encouraged to use public transport where possible.

The applicant said: “The proposed change of use is not a big departure from current use.

“As the property already meets a lot of the agreed standards for a supported accommodation service, there won’t be a significant amount of changes required to make the transition to a children’s care home.”

Permission to change the use of the five-bedroom residential property into a house of multiple occupation was granted in 2018.

Current use of the property as an HMO was due to cease on March 2.