RESIDENTS have submitted objections to plans for a children's home across the road from a nursery.

An application for a change of use of an address on Folds Road, Haydock, was sent in to council planners in September.

Applicants Guiding Stars Care Ltd are seeking permission for the home to be used for the care of up to three children, and have claimed the change would not cause any harm to nearby residents "through additional noise and disturbance.".

What the plans said

A planning statement in the application, drawn up by Space Architectural Ltd, said the proposed residential institution "would provide sensitive and personalised care for up to three children".

It added that "day-to-day activities would remain the same as in any traditional household, with the children attending school or college during the day.

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"Some care staff would come and go daily, although there would be no specialised uses, care, or activities that are likely to harm residential amenities through additional noise and disturbance."

The statement concluded: "Whilst the proposed development would involve a material change of use of the dwelling house, we consider that the proposed use would be fundamentally the same in day-to-day terms."

'Not the right setting': Residents submit objections

However, there have been more than 20 letters of objection from residents submitted against the proposals.

One resident said: "My objections are that it is on a busy corner which is very busy with traffic especially in a morning and tea time, also there is a children's nursery opposite which gets busy with parents dropping off and picking up their children.

"As well people park their cars there to take dogs down into Sankey Valley Park. Also there is traffic going to the farm sometimes big heavy tractors."

They added: "Folds Road has become a bit of a rat run with speeding cars both ways I just feel the corner where the proposed development is will become even more dangerous than it is now".

Another added: "Is this right to have a children’s home opposite a childcare setting? It is extremely close. I didn’t know if this was right to have a setting for vulnerable children so close to another".

One objector said there are "parked cars at all hours on either side of the road" and that "this would be a fourth business on the road increasing the vehicular traffic significantly for pickups and drop-offs".

They added: "I fully support the need to care and safeguard vulnerable children but consider Folds Road will not offer the safe environment required".

With the public consultation deadline on the application now passed, council planners are expected to make a decision on the proposals by November 5.