Children's care home set to become permanent after thumbs-up from neighbours

Autumn House, on Ellesmere Road, is a small, two-bedroom, detached dormer bungalow for youngsters in care, which was given planning permission in 2024.

But it was only for a limited period of two years, and it came with a condition attached that those running the home must hold regular meetings and talks with nearby residents.

The intention behind this was to ensure that the home did not lead to problems for neighbours, such as anti-social behaviour.

However, a fresh planning application has now been submitted to Nottinghamshire County Council to allow the temporary use of the property as a care home to be made permanent, and also to remove the condition.

A planning statement says: “The home has been successfully running since November 2024 and it is rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted, the education watchdog.

"Neighbourhood engagement has also been successful, and the neighbours now support the application.

"The home provides high-quality and carefully managed care in a family environment, and it does not have an adverse impact on the neighbourhood.”

Mansfield District Council says it has no objection to the new arrangement, and it looks likely that the county council will give the go-ahead before the end of this month.

Autumn House is operated by the West Midlands-based business, Homes2Inspire (H2I), which was founded in 2007 and now runs 53 children’s care homes across the UK as part of the Shaw Trust charity.

It works hand in hand with the county council, which has a statutory duty to find sufficient accommodation for children who come into its care.

The county council says: “H2I operates a number of children’s homes within Nottinghamshire, and offers specialised residential and educational placements.

"It ensures children are provided with tailored care programmes and family home environments, supervised by dedicated, experienced and professional staff.”

Making the Forest Town home permanent would “ensure that good care can continue to be provided and plans for the children in care can be made with a greater degree of certainty”.

"Providing children with stable homes is very important for them to thrive, whereas the potential of an impending move can be detrimental,” the county council adds.

"The condition that meetings should be held with local residents and records should be kept of any instances that may have impacted on the residential amenity of the area is not necessary in planning terms and is unreasonable.

"The operation of the home is already regulated through Ofsted, which includes requirements relating to neighbour relations, behaviour management, staff supervision, risk management and complaints procedures.”

The team that operates Autumn House comprises a manager, deputy manager, two senior support workers and seven support workers. At least two staff are on shift at all times.

THE details of many planning applications can be found in public notices advertised by local and regional newspapers. To catch up on all the latest public notices, go to https://publicnoticeportal.uk/