Council to appropriate 2,100 square metres of land for children’s assessment centre

Not everyone is happy a council is poised to appropriate more land for a “flagship” assessment centre for children with complex needs, after hitting several snags with the site.

The proposal for three new buildings on the area of now demolished Meadow Lodge, on Abergele Road adjacent to Eirias Park in Colwyn Bay,  was passed by Conwy county councillors in November last year.

The ground-breaking scheme will house experts assessing appropriate care options for children aged between six and 17 years old.

The aim is to stop the expensive practice of sending children with complex emotional needs out of county and give families a chance to reconcile.

Despite planning having been granted, the project team came back to Monday’s finance and resources scrutiny committee asking for backing to appropriate more than 2,100 square metres of land from its boundary with Eirias Park.

This is to provide suitable outdoor space for those children using the facility.

At the planning meeting in November, Cllr Louise Emery, cabinet member for adult social care and leisure, said it was a “flagship project”.

She added: “This was the best option – not the least worst option, the best option. This assessment centre needs to be close to the community.
“It’s in a closed and peaceful location with plenty of outdoor spaces.”

The report to councillors said: “The appropriated land is needed in order to maximise the Meadow Lodge site which has several ecological and environmental issues preventing the existing site footprint from being used to its full extent:
a) The presence of a large Badger Sett within 30m of the majority of the site
b) The proximity of the Grade II listed building, Llety’r Dryw
c) The presence of Japanese Knotweed growing on the site
d) The presence of a water well within the site boundaries
e) Problematic ground levels within the site.”

However it emerged only 930 of the 2,137 square metres being appropriated was “usable recreational land”.

Conwy county council received 12 objections from residents, with complaints ranging from the reduction in public open space, the use of Eirias Park itself, the negative impact on trees and wildlife and the size of the land appropriation.

One of those, Judith Warrilow, a former special needs teacher who lives across the road from the site, wondered why these problems weren’t spotted before.

She said: “I fully support the idea of the assessment centre. I just think it’s the wrong place to put it.
“When the original plan went in they talked about the land. I was at the whole planning meeting and nobody mentioned the appropriation of land at all.

“It’s the lack of transparency that concerns me – the council informed neighbours about the planning application but not about this. They just put a sign on the park.

“I understand why they need a unit for assessment, it’s the plan they have chosen I disagree with.

“I’m also specifically concerned about the erosion of the park and the amount of green space lost.”
She claimed several amenities on the park were rarely or never used, such as the assault course and car park, which was only used for events.

Last year it cost an average of £180,000 per child to send them out of county on placements at specialist centres.

A multi-disciplinary team including psychiatrists and psychologists will work at the assessment centre, which will have four assessment beds and two beds for respite and emergency use.

There will be therapeutic rooms, staff en suite rooms, games rooms, a sensory room and a quiet zone included in the start-of-the-art site, in which the children will stay for a maximum of 12 weeks before a decision is made on their futures.

Councillors unanimously approved the land appropriation and a final decision will be taken by the authority’s cabinet.

By Jez Hemming – Local Democracy Reporter