Bury St Edmunds property in Abbotsbury Road could be transformed into children’s home

A Bury St Edmunds family property could be transformed into a children’s home which will be staffed 24 hours a day.

Calm365 Healthcare Ltd wants to turn the three-bedroom semi-detached, 70 Abbotsbury Road, into a small specialist care home for two children.

The children, aged seven to 18, would live at the property long term, potentially for many years, and it would not be a halfway house or emergency accommodation, according to plans submitted to West Suffolk Council.

It will be registered as an emotional and behavioural home for children with low / medium care needs.

A planning statement said the proposed home seeks to replicate as closely as possible a normal family environment.

The provision is to help children who often, through no fault of their own, have not had good parenting in their early years, it said. They do not have special needs.

Two carers would work on a rota basis, sleeping overnight, and a further carer / manager would also attend most weekdays.

The carers, working on a rota basis, would effectively live at the house to provide 24-hour care, as a single household.

There would be no outside alterations to the building and before any home can open, it must gain the approval of Ofsted.

An application for a lawful development certificate for the plans has been submitted to the authority.