Planning refused for Tipperary home to be converted to care facility
Planning permission for a “care in the community” style home in Tipperary has been refused by the local authority.
Compass Child and Family Services CLG had applied to Tipperary County Council to change the use of a home at Gortussa, Dundrum from residential to a care in the community dwelling house for children in care.
The house would have had space for four minors, as well as nine social care workers, and would be designed to “replicate a domestic home as closely as possible,” according to planning documents.
The residence would aim to provide “a supportive and stable environment” for the residents.
Care in the community means providing healthcare, social care and other supports for people within their local community.
Compass Child and Family Services is a charity offering out of home care arrangements for children in the care of the state, with homes in Tipperary town, Ballina and Tralee in county Kerry.
However, Tipperary County Council refused planning permission for the change of use due to concerns about the site that the house sits on.
"The application site is removed from a designated settlement (0.7km from Dundrum) and is on lands designated as ‘open countryside’,” Tipperary County Council planners said.
"If permitted, the development would provide for a care in the community facility on unzoned and unserviced lands at a location which is removed from the services and amenities offered by settlement centres,” they added.
The development would be contrary to the council’s county development plan, and would “set an undesirable precedent for other similar developments,” planners said.