Fascinating (From Penarth Times)

Fascinating

I WAS fascinated by Ian Bebb"s report in last week"s Penarth Times, "Home Opposition", giving details of Cllr Ernest"s objections to the granting of Change of Use planning consent to that of a new nursing home facility proposed for Wentworth in Bradford Place, Penarth.

I must declare a family (but no financial) interest in this building and the planning application, as the property is owned by my son-in-law, Paul Donovan, and daughter Rebekah, who have emigrated to Australia.

Cllr Ernest is reported as having said the "the application site lies in the T-junction with Clive Crescent, and this is a busy junction serving as many as 125 dwellings or more within a distance of 100 metres", going on to add he fears for the probable increase in traffic volume, generated if Change of Use consent were given.

Cllr Ernest owned Wentworth and the adjoining property, then named "Glenholme", until July 1992, when he sold Wentworth to Paul Donovan.

In October 1989, Cllr Ernest applied for and received planning permission (not acted upon, but still extant at the time of sale to my son-in-law) to extend Wentworth and convert both adjoining houses to accommodate nine self-contained flats.

Cllr Ernest, while comparing adverse traffic situations in other localities in Penarth, which he attributes to the proximity of nursing homes, mentions experiences in Bridgeman Road.

I believe the Marie Curie Home was located originally in Holme Tower, next door to the present building, even before Mr Ernest redeveloped his family home a few hundred yards away, adding a quite large development of blocks of flats there.

The proposed Change of Use of Wentworth into a new Health and Treatment facility envisages provision for, I believe, a maximum of six to eight residents. Enlargement of the existing car park from three to ten spaces within its curtillage has already been agreed upon.

Mike Ford

Rectory Road Lane

Penarth