Windlehurst Cottage approved children’s home !

What are the plans?

An application for the site of Windlehurst Cottage, on Hard Lane, was presented before the Planning Commission at its meeting on Tuesday 14 March.

It proposed a two-storey rear extension to accommodate the change of use from a children’s call center to a council-run children’s home for up to three children.

The committee had recommended by planning officials that permission be granted with conditions.

A committee report stated that the site was located on a prominent corner where Hard Lane meets Gamble Street.

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iona Woods, from St Helens Council, told the committee: “The building is already in use as a call centre, so there are quite a few young people going there because it’s a family centre, it’s well used.

“What we are asking for is a two-storey annexe, whose use we want to change to a children’s center which is registered with Ofsted.

“It’s really important for us as the Department of Children’s Services to really look at how we are meeting the needs of our young people to make sure that they stay in our area and that they get access to the services that are within their area.”

She added, “We’re looking for it to be a relatively small house, so we don’t want there to be more than three guys.”

Passengers ranged from 11 to 18 years old.

The committee approves the request

Cllr Committee Member Anne McCormack said: “I am really happy to see our council are providing the kind of homes we need to look after.

“I have been concerned about the number of large companies that have come into the town and bought large houses and made them children’s homes and I feel that, as a council, we can do a much better service for our children and our residents.”

Cllr James Tasker added: “This is probably one of the best examples of a children’s home we’ve seen, it’s really an existing facility for children, and it looks purpose-built.

“Looking at the cost, St Helens Council, apart from the private homes that come up, sure enough the figures just before Christmas were around £265,000 per child, that’s what St Helens Council pays to private businesses, whereas when we run it in-house it’s about £160. £1,000, so it saves about £105,000 for a child.”

The request was approved unanimously.