Derby children’s home set for go ahead despite objections

A BUSINESSMAN has applied to open a new children’s home in Littleover but 12 people have objected. Meaksh Mehan, who runs Uma Fashions, in Normanton Road, has applied to Derby City Council to use 85 Havenbaulk Lane as a care home that will look after just two children.

People living in the area have written to the council with various concerns, such as whether or not the children in care living there might be in that position for “criminal reasons”.

They also argued that the building was not big enough for its proposed use and that there could be increased noise and traffic.

Planning officers have recommended the home gets the go-ahead when the council’s planning committee meets tomorrow.

Mr Mehan, 43, said that the site would house the two children, aged eight to 16, and have one member of staff looking after them on site at any one time.

Asked what the backgrounds of the children that would be living there was, he said they would attend school so would not have the kind of severe behavioural problems that would prevent this.

He said the care home would employ five staff in total, two who would look after the children in the daytime and two during nighttime, plus a manager. He said: “The staff will be qualified and know how to look after the children there.”

Mr Mehan said his family already ran two other similar properties in Sutton Coldfield and Erdington.

He said that children would be referred to the home from Derby City Council social services and that he was paying about £35,000 for the home to be converted.

A report drawn up by a planning officer ahead of tomorrow’s meeting says there were numerous examples where care homes such as this sat “harmoniously” beside residential homes “without significant harm to the residential amenity of neighbouring properties”.

It adds that there should be a condition to any planning permission limiting the number of children that could be cared for at the property at any one time.