PLANS to turn a Grade II listed care home in one of Brentford's conservation areas, into a hostel for homeless families was rejected this week, after resident's groups and councillors spoke out against the project.

Members of the Brentford Community Council, and the Butts Society were celebrating after the decision on Monday night (April 28th) to deny planning permission for a hostel housing up to 11 families or 41 individuals awaiting re-housing by the council.

Councillors ruled that plans for Taylor House, at 14 The Butts, part of the St Mary's and St Raphael's convents were too cramped and lacked provisions for the number of people expected to stay there.

Fears had previously been raised over the ability of the charity Field Lane planning to run the hostel, and that local residents would be outnumbered by special needs individuals, with the threat of anti-social behaviour.

Councillor Corinna Smart spoke at the Civic Centre meeting: We do not want homeless people in Bed & Breakfast accommodation, but it's very clear that these units are very cramped.

The report does not go into detail about what provisions there are for the hostel. There's a lack of amenity space and the convent next door is only separated by a wooden fence.''

Christopher Richards of the Butts Society was delighted by the decision: We were very relieved that both the area and sustainable development committees agreed unanimously that this was the wrong site. We feel vindicated.''

He now hoped that a previous proposal to renovate the site as a residential home for the elderly could now be revived: The only reason the convent had to look at this hostel proposal was because they couldn't raise the funds for sheltered housing.

We were told that the Housing Corporation does not see housing the elderly as a priority. But these things can change.''

He expressed concern that the council was being put under pressure to supply hostel space for homeless families. Central government has set targets for no families to be housed in Bed & Breakfast accommodation by April 2004.

The plans provoked an angry public split between the area's councillors and the borough's planning department after planning chief Paul Draper told a packed public meeting just days before the decision that the planning department were prepared to renege on a promise that there would be no more supported hostels in the area.

In 1997 residents had been promised that there would be no more such developments, after agreeing to Scott Lodge.

However, after a public revolt over the plans for Taylor House, councillors called the application back to the area committee asking the planning department to review how many other similar developments there were in the vicinity of the Butts.

Their subsequent review was publicly blasted by Cllr Lamey who pointed out that several such hostels were overlooked by the planning department's study, and that there was now an overprovision of hostel accomodation in (this) residential area,'' and went on to say that she had been present when the department promised there would be no more. She lamented the lack of care facilities for the elderly in the light of the threat to John Aird House - to which there was a strong here, here'' from the assembled crowd.

That promise means a great deal, unless council officers can make a statement and it's absolutely meaningless.''

A visibly riled Draper then replied that objecting to the hostel on the grounds that it should have been used for the elderly, as had once been planned, was not a good objection, and gestured angrily to the Butts Society members present.

It may mean that the officer at that time acted in bad faith, but it has no bearing on the decision now.

Circumstances change, and planning guidance changes. Those assurances were wrong and have no meaning now.''

May 1, 2003 16:00