A Liverpool community has clashed over the proposed use of a residential property as a children’s home.
A plan has been lodged with the city council’s planning department for the conversion of a house on Hollins Close, Wavertree, into a home for two looked after children. According to an application form, submitted to the local authority by applicant Omega Care Group, the new home would provide care for children in need up to the age of 17.
No physical changes are proposed at the location, with support staff to work on site with the availability of sleeping arrangements for those working overnight. The plans from Omega Care said they had been formulated to address the “significant shortages of residential children's homes in the area” and provide a resource for Liverpool.
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However, in an email seen by the ECHO, Cllr Alan Tormey, Liberal member for Childwall ward, said he had concerns about Omega’s previous Ofsted reports regarding its operations in Knowsley. Cllr Tormey wrote how he felt the company’s reviews meant the application should be refused.
The ECHO understands further objections have been made informally by residents in the area. Concerns have been raised about the potential for the property to be expanded.
Omega hit back online, writing: “A real community should be opening doors, not building walls. A community should welcome diversity and encourage inclusion, this is the way it becomes its best version of itself.
“While we see the true value in every child we care for it appears the counsellor (sic) and the campaigners see us and our vulnerable children as a problem.” Writing online, people in Wavertree openly backed the plans.
One said: “Children in care deserve to have loving homes and a place of safety. No matter their circumstances, they are clearly being labelled and stereotyped by the fact that it will be a children’s home.”
Another wrote: “As a Wavertree resident this saddens me greatly. I know as a diverse and inclusive community we should absolutely welcome, open armed, vulnerable children into our ward. It seems not everyone feels this way.”
Cllr Tormey said when he was made aware of the application, he drafted a letter to “ensure residents firstly were aware of the proposal and to offer a point of contact to assist with commenting, along with gathering further information to ensure an informed decision could be made by everybody.”
Comments are available to be made on Liverpool Council’s planning portal until April 11.
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