Boost in bid to create nearly 30 jobs with new care home on edge of Hartlepool

Proposals were submitted to Hartlepool Borough Council’s planning department earlier this year to carry out the conversion at The Grove in Dalton Piercy.

The move would see the six-bedroomed house become a care home while a new single storey building would be built to educate the young people living at the site.

Submitted by Jonathan Halfpenny, from The Witherslack Group, proposals say the development would create 28 jobs, including 22 for care staff, a full time therapist, and five teaching staff.

The application is to go before the council planning committee on Wednesday, November 17, and officers have recommended it is approved by councillors.

This is despite four objections being submitted by residents to the proposals raising concerns over the impact on highway and pedestrian safety due to increased traffic and inadequate local road networks.

Objections were also lodged over the impact on the safety and security of the area and the “insufficient information” regarding future occupants.

Yet a report from council senior planning officer Ryan Cowley rules the proposals are in line with all the relevant local authority policies.

In his report, he said: “It is noted that the proposed development will generate employment.

“The council’s planning policy section has advised that, as the proposals are for a residential use and are located on the site of an existing residential unit, they consider that the principle of the development in this instance is acceptable.”

A planning statement from Cushman and Wakefield, on behalf of the applicant, argues the proposals have clear benefits for young people with special educational needs who are “unable to thrive in a mainstream environment”.

It said: “This facility is designed for a specialist client group who need a peaceful, quiet location.

“The proposals will deliver a crucial social and educational facility providing greater educational choice and a high level of care.”

The care home off Dalton Piercy Road would be staffed 24 hours a day by experienced staff and open 52 weeks a year with the school element of the proposals running 38 weeks of the year for young people living at the site only.