Plans for a home that have sparked outrage in Hyde are set to be approved next week.

A property on a row of terraces would be converted if the council’s planning panel approves the application. The planning panel will hear from two councillors as well as some of the 102 objectors when they meet on March 20.

The application has been recommended for approval by planning officers, so the objectors will need to put forward their point in order to sway the councillors’ votes.

The planning panel, meeting at Guardsman Tony Downes House in Droylsden, will also have to decide on an extension for the Village Hotel in Ashton Moss as well as a new 35-home apartment block in the site of an old Ashton nightclub.

They will also discuss objections submitted to ‘no waiting’ orders planned for the Bank Street area of Ashton and the King Street and Ovalo Drive area of Dukinfield. The experimental prohibition of driving order within the Clare Street and Palatine Street area of Denton has sparked objections because of plans for it to remain in force indefinitely.

Here’s more detail on each planning application to be discussed at the meeting…

Controversial children’s home in Hyde

Plans to convert a terraced property into a care home have sparked controversy in Hyde.

The Clarendon Road site has been picked as a location to house the children between the ages of eight and 18 with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The four-bedroom home would contain one staff bedroom on the ground floor and three upstairs rooms for the children to stay.

According to planning documents, the home would be monitored 24/7 by a total of eight members of staff.

Staff will include one manager, three senior support workers, three support workers and one area manager who works from home. The support workers would be on a shift rota with one senior staff member sleeping over in case the children need support during the night.

This application submitted by Laura Hopkinson of Infinity Care Home Ltd has been subject to over 100 objections. The majority of these concerns relate to a potential increase in anti-social behaviour, crime and drug use as a result of the children moving in as well as general disruption due to coming and going of staff.

Additional parking strain has been highlighted as a potential problem as the area is deemed to be over-capacity by residents. A lack of consultation, ‘younger offenders’ already down the road, whether it meets the character of the area are all the other matters flagged by objectors. 

Questions have also been asked of staff training as well as the Ofsted reports from the other sites managed by Infinity Care Home Ltd. These matters will all have to be answered by the applicants at the planning meeting next week.

Planning officers have recommended this application for approval.

Village Hotel Expansion

 The Village Hotel in Ashton Moss is seeking permission for a huge 48-bedroom extension with a link bridge connecting the current building to the new one.

The new extension would be five-storeys in height, the same as the current building, which would see the overall capacity of the hotel increase to 168 bedrooms. In addition to overnight accommodation the hotel includes a Starbucks coffee house, restaurant, gym and meeting room and conference facilities.

The site of the extension is currently demarcated for car parking with some minimal existing landscape features. This results in a minimal net loss of 14 spaces overall, giving a total of 290 car parking spaces including 18 dedicated accessible car parking spaces. 

Planning permission for the 48-bedroom extension was approved in 2019, but the hotel has exceeded the three years limit they were required to build it. Village Hotels say they are now in a position where the extension is required to meet the growing demand for rooms -so have resubmitted the application.

The applicants say that this would create more jobs in the area both in-house and through the construction phase.

Planning papers read: “There will be new jobs created as a direct result of the proposed extension. The build phase will sustain on-site construction jobs and support off-site jobs in construction related industries. 

“The employees and customers of the proposed development will also make further contributions to the local economy through first occupation expenditure, this relates to goods and services that are purchased to make the office/work environments function and associated retail spending.”

Planning officers have recommended this application for approval.

Former Blues nightclub site could be transformed into apartment block

A new 35-home apartment block could soon be erected in the home of the former Blues nightclub in Ashton.

The nightclub on Stamford Street Central, thought to be Ashton’s first gay nightclub went on to be known as Pinkies Bar & Disco before it was left to go to wrack and ruin. It has since been demolished and is currently used as a car park.

Now plans have been submitted to create a three-storey block with all apartments available for affordable rent (80 per cent of market value).

If the planning panel grants permission, 33 one-bedroom flats would be built alongside two with two bedrooms.

If the proposals tabled by Ashton Alban (Central) Limited are approved, the site would then be managed by Jigsaw Homes upon completion. 

Only two objections have been submitted to Tameside Council about this application. Concerns relate to waste collection issues, parking loss in the town centre, inadequacy of parking arrangement as well as potential overdevelopment of the site.

Sitting within the The Ashton Town Centre Conservation Area, the style of the apartments ‘prioritises functionality, comfort, and quality of living for the future residents while maintaining affordability’. 

The current parking facility at the site would be reduced from 50 spaces to 13 – once the development is completed. There would also be cycle storage for 35 bicycles. 

The design and access statement read: “This project focuses on Social Sustainability providing much needed homes during a housing crisis and as affordable rented properties they will serve those most in need. 

“As confirmed by Jigsaw Homes Group who will be developing the project, subject to planning permission, the provision will contribute to meeting various needs across the council.

“(This would meet needs for) care leavers reaching 18, those threatened with homelessness, particularly under 35s who can access the one bedroom rate for the LHA, as well as a growing number of single people and couples facing increasing affordability struggles.”

Planning officers have recommended this application for approval.