Cllr. Alistair McNair 

BH2024/00825 – Patcham Nursing Home, Eastwick Close

25th May 2024:

Please accept this letter as an objection to this planning application.  We have three strong reasons for objecting: the current overdevelopment of the site; limited parking; potential light pollution.

This letter sets out objections to the plans of Wren Retirement Living, not the nursing home staff or residents.  It is Wren Retirement Living which has requested this extension, not the staff at the Nursing Home who have been very helpful with our queries.  We also do not wish to involve residents at the nursing home who deserve to be looked after as well as possible.

Wren Retirement Living is situated in Eastwick Close, which is a very small, secluded close with very restricted access (see Fig. 1).  Residents chose to live in Eastwick Close because it was secluded, green and quiet.  The nursing home used to be a private house, but has since been extended three times, in 2002, 2006, 2009.  Fortunately, the plans in 2021 for eight additional bedrooms were withdrawn.  Since the development of the nursing home, it has become increasingly busy and overdeveloped.

Fig. 1: the only access to the nursing home and Eastwick Close

If this new proposal is approved, the home would increase from 30 bedrooms, according to its website, to 34 bedrooms in total.  This development, in our and residents’ opinions, is already an overdevelopment, with too little parking provision and too little recreational space for residents.  

While nuisance deliveries to the nursing home have declined in frequency – they often happened at 2am waking residents up – and ambulances block the Close less frequently – residents were having to wait for up to 40 minutes while ambulances blocked their exit from the close which was clearly unacceptable and led to heated exchanges – residents are right to be concerned that an increase in the number of residents will yet again increase the risk of restricted access for residents to their properties.  For example, Patcham Nursing Home has at times moved their minibus into the main vehicular access (one of only two vehicular accesses) taking up two of only six car spaces resulting in more cars parking in the Close and potentially blocking access to private drives.  Currently industrial sacks of building material are taking up valuable parking space.

No mention is made in the Design & Access Statement regarding parking.  Clearly, with four additional rooms, and increased guests, there will be increased visitors and ambulance trips.  Yet, no plans have been put forward to mitigate parking overflow.

There is very limited parking in Eastwick Close.  As can be seen in Fig. 2 below, double yellow lines surround the close, yet visitors have parked there for long periods of time blocking driveways.  

Fig. 2: Eastwick Close aerial view

With an increase in bedrooms, will there also be an increase in staff and visitors?  Where will they park?  Currently staff and visitors appear to park in the surrounding streets such as Braeside Avenue and Mackie Avenue which are themselves overcrowded with vehicles.  

Eastwick Close is very narrow, and when cars, delivery lorries and ambulances park in the road they block residents from entering and exiting (see Fig. 3).  Residents have been frequently disturbed by deliveries at 6am.  While there has been a welcome reduction in the disturbance, residents are worried an increase in rooms will reverse the progress.  If successful, the home may well apply for even further growth.  Residents also worry that emergency vehicles, such as fire engines, will have difficulty accessing residents and the care home.  We believe Eastwick Close does not have the required turning circle for fire appliances.  Also, there would be very limited escape routes for the care home residents. Where will the residents wait in a fire drill? 

Fig. 3: ambulance blocking Eastwick Close

On p.6 of the access statement, reference is made to external lighting.  External lighting has caused much annoyance to residents in Braeside Avenue.  Residents have contacted us about intrusive security lighting, which was keeping residents awake in the early hours of the morning.  The care home has tried to resolve the situation.  However, the Design and Access Statement does not clearly show how external lighting will affect neighbouring properties.

Regarding residents, consideration needs to be given to the amount of construction traffic and lack of useable access to the site. This would be a major construction, but there is only one narrow access point to the nursing home and the close (see Fig. 1).  How will ambulances carrying vulnerable patients, delivery lorries, construction vehicles and residents’ vehicles all have safe and open access?  There is potential risk to public safety.

Wren Retirement Living has already overdeveloped the site.  Parking provision is already inadequate; noise has at times been unacceptable; intrusive lighting has been a real nuisance.  Despite progress with the nursing home, residents are very worried about a return to former levels of disruption.

Should the Local Planning Authority consider granting this application, we request that it is brought to Planning Committee for determination where we reserve our right to speak to our letter and the application.