Extension plans for Wrexham care home backed by councillors

Plans to extend a local care home and increase the number of bedrooms on the site have been backed by councillors.

The application to extend Bay Tree house Care Home on Norman Road had previously been debated by members of the planning committee earlier this month. However a decision to approve the development had been deferred until a site visit to examine parking at the facility had taken place.

The proposals for the facility, which offers residential care for people over the age of 60 who have Dementia, a mental health condition and physical disabilities, include extending the care home to provide an additional 11 bedrooms.

This would be an increase from the existing 36 to 47.

It was the second time such plans had been submitted for the site, with a previous application refused on design grounds and inadequate parking provision.

However despite the revised application being recommended for approval, there were concerns about the shortfall of onsite parking and the impact this may have on visitors parking on the road.

Speaking at after the site visit last Friday, planning officer David Williams said the applicants had taken onboard the previous concerns about the design and that there wasn’t “sufficient justification to refuse planning permission on those grounds”.

He said: “As far as the parking situation is concerned I did circulate on site some extracts taken from the Google Maps facility which would demonstrate that over the course of time that there hasn’t been a particular problem in terms of on street parking at that location and the car park virtually on every photograph is shown to be less than half full.

“In terms of capacity the current unit provides 36 bedrooms and to recap what I explained on site, LPG (Local Planning Guidance) provides one space per two bedrooms. That would equate to a maximum of 18 spaces. There are nine existing spaces to serve the development as it stands, with a shortfall of 50% on the maximum number required.

“What we have now is an increase in parking from nine to 18 so they’ve doubled the number of parking spaces and now have a shortfall of 22% – so there is a significant improvement of the parking situation .

“As I mentioned earlier, parking was one of the reasons we refused previously. The parking at that time had fallen to 64%. So when you consider the two applications, the fact the applicants have significantly increased parking on site, I believe they have addressed that issue.”

Concerns were raised by Cllr I David Bithell who said that of the 18 spaces, six would be used by staff – leaving 12 spaces for 46 visitors.

He added: “We have to consider the residents around there and the amenities to. What sort of impact will it have on the surrounding area and the residents in that area?”

However chairman of the committee, Cllr Michael Morris pointed out that the facility is not ‘like a hospital’ and that visitors can access the site throughout the day rather than all arriving and leaving at the same time.

Mr Williams added: “As a means of clarification, when we talk about parking we are talking about the maximum standard. I keep reiterating, but it is only 22% short of what the maximum standard would be and I think if this application was refused and went to an appeal an inspector would look at that. It is also its within close proximity of a bus stop and within and urban area.

“If you look at other residential accommodation of this type, even in Wrexham, they are certainly short of the maximum standard and they perform quite well, and there are no incidences of any reported problems where they have bene overspill on the adjoining carriageway

“There isn’t a huge parking pressure in any event, but they have accommodated the needs of the extension by doubling the number of spaces on the site.”

Cllr Paul Pemberton moved the recommendation to grant the scheme, stating that the site visit had alleviated some of his previous concerns about the parking provision and impact it would have on the highways.

This was seconded by Cllr Andrew Atkinson, who said: “I was like a number of members was concerned over parking when the agent talked about new jobs, thought new jobs would mean more parking that would negate some of the extra parking spaces

“To me unscientifically, even if it took up the same parking provision there is at the moment, it would be on a bigger scale, I can’t imagine it would be any worse.

“That would mean we have a bigger scheme, meeting the need of adult social care provision in the area, and hopefully making things slightly better, but i can’t see a situation where it would be worse.”

15 councillors voted in favour of granting the application, with one councillor abstaining from the vote.