Plan to convert Kempston house to children's home resubmitted

An application to convert a house on Kempston’s Ampthill Road to a children’s home has been resubmitted to Bedford Borough Council.

The application (23/01003/FUL) to convert 292 Ampthill Road from a single residential dwelling to a children’s home for up to three children was refused for two reasons on June 30, 2023.

Council planners said the planning application failed to demonstrate its compliance with “criteria appropriate” to the needs of the intended occupiers, staff and visitors.

They added that the proposal provided “insufficient information” about on-site parking and vehicular manoeuvrability, and therefore failed to demonstrate that it would have “no unacceptable impact” on highway safety.

The new proposal is to care for two children, and as this would mean a reduced number of carers, the applicants said this would result “in a lower number of parking spaces”.

They also said that planning permission is the first part of a process which includes an application to register the children’s home with Ofsted, adding that until planning permission is granted, Ofsted will not consider any application for registration.

Therefore it is “impossible to provide any clarity regarding the potential occupants” and what their current care status is, they said.

And even if this information was available, they said it would be “highly inappropriate” to include or share specific details of any of the children potentially housed at the property.

As with the previous submission, the application paperwork states that the applicants are not the sole owner of all the land and have not been the sole owner for more than 21 days. But they have given the “requisite notice” to the owner as required.

More information can be found on the council’s planning portal, reference 23/01534/FUL. The overall consultation expiry date is Friday, August 11, 2023.