The latest move to convert a Herefordshire house into a small children’s home has been approved.

3Belle.ami Health of Birmingham applied in March to turn the two-storey house at Keep Hill Farm west of Bromyard to house up to four children in care aged between seven and 17, along with up to three staff on a shift pattern, of whom up to two would remain overnight.

“Care would be given in a communal environment with the child and their carers sharing facilities in a manner akin to a conventional household,” the firm’s application said.

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The children “would be cared for on a medium to long term basis for them to integrate properly into the community”, and would attend school or college and other local facilities during the day, “accompanied as appropriate”, it added.

There is plenty of parking at the farm, where the only visitors would be specialists such as social workers – not family members or friends of the children – and as such there would be no more comings and goings than for a conventional household, the company said.

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There would be minimal changes to the inside and outside of the house, accompanying plans showed.

Noting that recent government policy encourages such conversions, planning officer Emma Aram concluded that the proposal would not result in a material change of use to the house.

A lawful development certificate for the change of use was therefore granted.