Students flats in Mapperley Park will be turned into a children’s home under new plans.
Leicester-based Ajwa Homes Ltd will convert a building in Devon Court, Villa Road, into a children’s home for five young people between the ages of 16 and 18.
The three-storey detached building had previously been used to accommodate 11 students.
Plans were approved at a Nottingham City Council Planning Committee meeting on Wednesday (August 20).
The young people living in at the property will be care leavers or children who are being looked after by local councils, and who require support in a semi-independent environment.
More than 30 neighbouring properties were informed of the plans, and a number of residents objected to them.
One resident said: “The proposal undermines the residential character of Villa Road and its designation as a Conservation Area, where family housing is promoted.”
Others concerns raised included fears over “chronic parking issues” in the area, and that the applicant “is not locally based and has no demonstrable experience in running such a facility”
To make the plans more suitable for approval, the applicant reduced the number of young people who will be looked after at the premises from seven to five.
The two left-over rooms will be used for one-to-one support and mentoring, educational study or personal development in a study and library environment, and private counselling sessions and therapeutic work.
In a supporting statement the applicant said the reduction in occupancy “reflects our shared goal of ensuring the service is appropriate for the area and can deliver the best possible outcomes for young people.”
“This reduction is being made voluntarily as a gesture of goodwill and in full collaboration with the council,” the statement added.
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