Children's home plan rejected after county lines drug concerns

A council has dismissed plans for a new children’s home following neighbours’ objections and police concerns about county lines drug dealing. The proposal was for a change of use and extension at a detached house in Kew Drive, Dudley, from a residential property to a home providing accommodation for two young people and two staff members.

The plan also included the construction of an extra bedroom over the kitchen at the back of the property. A total of 12 letters of objection were received from residents living near the house, which is located at the head of a cul-de-sac.

Residents were worried about a range of issues including noise and the impact of additional vehicles parking on a shared driveway or in the street. West Midlands Police also raised concerns including the lack of a management plan or details of where children living at the home would come from.

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The force’s designing out crime officer, Bob Manson, said: “The management plan does play a big part for the police as children do go missing/absent and due to this home being in an IMPACT area and is pretty close to Dudley town centre which as a good travel system with the new bus terminal and Metro to be built soon gives the children a route to most places in the West Midlands. “This also an issue if a child is from outside the West Midlands they will then travel to the place they come from which presents bigger issues as the children would be vulnerable to county lines.”

Refusing the application Dudley’s head of planning, Carl Mellor, concluded there was no evidence to show the need for supported living accommodation at the location and the proposed extension would have an overbearing impact on a neighbouring house. Mr Mellor also found extra traffic would make parking problems in the street worse and have a detrimental impact on highway safety.

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