Plans approved for new residential children’s home in South Shields

South Tyneside Council’s planning department has approved an application for 187 Stanhope Road in the West Park ward in South Shields.

Plans from care company ROC Group, submitted earlier this year, aimed to convert the property from a standard dwelling house to a residential children’s home housing a maximum of four children aged 8-18.

According to its website, ROC Group specialises in “providing care solutions for children, young people and families in the North East of England”.

A planning application for the Stanhope Road site said staff would work on a rota “carrying out ‘sleep overs’ and ensuring the house is always occupied by a minimum of two staff members”.

It was noted that there would be crossover between shifts to complete a staff handover and that the home manager and deputy manager would be present in the home during office hours.

The new children’s home would also include four bedrooms for children and two staff office/sleep areas.

Council planning documents stated staff would help with “medical appointments, activities and education where required”, with the level of support being “tailored to each child, dependent on their care plan and age”.

The planning application added that 13 full-time employees and one part-time employee were proposed for the children’s home development.

During a council consultation exercise on the plans, no objections were raised by the council’s highway authority or environmental health team.

A Northumbria Police representation referenced the force’s ‘missing policy’ and said police wanted the home to “have a closer working relationship so that information can easily be exchanged in order to reduce the likelihood of the children residing at the home of falling into several issues”.

Two public representations were also submitted during the council consultation raising concerns about parking pressures from visitors and staff, as well as concerns about the type of children being placed.

After considering the planning application and assessing it against planning policies, South Tyneside Council approved it on June 19, 2024.

Council planners, in a decision report, said the site was “in a sustainable location and would provide ease of access to amenities and facilities”.

It was also noted that placement decisions at the home were “not a planning matter” but that the home would be registered with and monitored by regulator Ofsted.

Council planners said the “children from the home will have more supervision and support than other types of residential accommodation” and that “a CCTV system [suggested by police] is also not considered necessary in terms of this planning application and its acceptability”.

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It was noted that “the closer working relationship between the home and Northumbria Police would be a matter for the relevant parties to consider directly and is again not within the scope of this planning application to consider or enforce”.

The council decision report added: “It is not envisaged that this development will give rise to any undue highway safety concerns.

“In coming to this view consideration has been given to the fact that the scheme is unlikely to generate significantly more vehicular movements to and from the premises than would be generated were they to have remained in use as a dwelling”.

Under planning conditions, the children’s home development must be brought forward within three years.

For more information on the plan or council decision, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search reference: ST/0250/24/FUL