Old Colwyn (East) Residents’ Association
7th September 2006
The Planning Inspectorate
Crown Buildings
Cathays Park Your Appeal ref.
Cardiff APP/T6905/A/06/1199530
CF10 3NQ
Dear Sir / Madam
Appeal re modification of Condition of planning permission ref 1-OCW-34-7014
I am the secretary of the above mentioned residents’ association which covers an area of 561 dwellings around the area of Queens Court. We are therefore representative of public concern in that area.
We wrote to the planning officer about our concerns over the original planning application. There were a great many concerns expressed about the changes and we approached it with an open mind.
POTENS had held a number of meetings with selected persons including councillors and health professionals. They invited a representation from our association and I attended with other members. I put forward to the meetings the concerns of our residents who live in the immediate area of Queens Court.
In all I attended two such meetings and one of the big issues was that of people knowing the nature of the mental health disorders which would be treated at the home. The representatives of POTENS the owners were dismissive of public concerns in that persons staying at the home with mental health problems would not be treated at the home but be in an assisted living situation having been stabilised elsewhere.
Schizophrenia was one of the main types of disorder which caused worries to neighbours. At no stage were the representatives of POTENS able to convince the neighbours that there was no cause for concern.
We asked that a list of included and excluded case types be drawn up by POTENS, to try and alleviate the stress caused to residents about the types of cases that would be attending the home. This was agreed to by the representatives of POTENS but never materialised. Also they were unable to convince the residents that the home would be secure. In fact people will be able to come and go at will.
In view of the fact that we through the meetings, agreed to work with the representatives of POTENS and they agreed to produce the list of case types, I advised the association members that a facility of this type was necessary and that I, on their behalf supported it in principle, provided that the list was produced and proved to be acceptable. The members agreed to follow my recommendations.
That list was never produced in the run up to the planning application and as a result, another local group of residents became very upset about the fact that there had been no public debate on the subject.
The result was that the local councillors spoke against the application and it was refused.
SUBMITTED
As a residents association, we had consultation with Potens. They agreed to produce a list of excluded case types for public consultation before the planning meeting and never did so.
As a result of that agreement we did not pursue our initial objections after listening to the arguments of health professionals and councillors.
Our support was therefore conditional upon the list being satisfactorily produced.
The matter was debated last night at our committee and it was decided that as the excluded case list was never produced for public consultation, we withdraw our conditional support and wish to object to the application in the strongest terms.
Changes to the types of cases treated at the home have to be treated with a great deal of thought for the safety of persons living in the area. Safety of persons is our greatest concern. In failing to address this very issue consistently, POTENS have failed to show good faith with the public and have given rise to concern about safety and security whilst giving bland assurances about the nature of their business.
There is a veil of secrecy about the future case types and nature of the level of mental disability especially in relation to schizophrenia.
It appears that they either do not know what they are going to do at the premises or alternatively they are being intentionally vague in the hope of getting through the initial planning phase. This is not acceptable to our members.
Yours faithfully
David Curtis
Secretary
