Children's home approved despite 200 objections
Getty ImagesA children's home has been approved despite 200 objections claiming it was not suitable for a "quiet family village".
Durham County Council said the facility provided by Sunbridge Childcare would care for two children aged between six and 17 years old at The Paddock, in Toronto, Bishop Auckland.
However, the town's Reform councillor Tom Redmond said a petition against the home showed how strongly residents felt about the suitability of the location.
Sunbridge said the home would be the "right environment for children to settle and succeed" and it would be run like a family house.
Redmond told a local authority committee residents were not "against supporting vulnerable children" and the concern was "the steady change within the community", according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The planning application was supported by Reform councillor Cathy Hunt, cabinet member for children and young people's services, who said it would provide "much-needed" accommodation.
A petition signed by 200 people objected to the plan, claiming it was a quiet family village with many elderly people and not suitable for a children's home.
'Zero police call-outs'
Joy Allen, Durham's Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), said the county had "reached saturation point" and could not continually place children in accommodation that was not "appropriate".
However, Nick Astaire, of Sunbridge, said: "Our homes operate as closely to traditional family homes as possible.
"We are not a drain on the police and have had zero call-outs in the last 12 months."
Councillor Michael Stead, Liberal Democrat member for Aycliffe North and Middridge, said his ward had had "next to no issues" with similar schemes.
"This property ticks every single box," he said.
"The applicants aren't being overly zealous with the number of children they want to put in there."
