£1.2m Weston Longville Pump Farm to become children's home

Despite objections from people living near Pump Farm at Weston Longville, Norfolk County Council has granted itself permission to change the use of the buildings.

The council says it needs to use those buildings - including a five-bedroom house and two-bedroom annexe - as a temporary children's home, to house youngsters it cares for while work is done on 22 children's homes.

Children or young people at each existing care home would "decant" into Pump Farm for between three and 12 weeks depending on the level of work required, over a five-year period.

That work is part of an £83m scheme to improve energy efficiency at almost 200 council buildings.

Council officers said an urban location for a temporary home was not considered suitable because of the potential risk to the children and young people from "external influences".

Pump Farm at Weston Longville (Image: Archant)

But Conservative-controlled County Hall received five objections to the plans from people living nearby.

Paul Cowley, one of the objectors, said: "It's the wrong location for a children's home.

"We understand the benefits of a rural environment, but not complete isolation."

He said there were no footpaths and the building was on a dangerous corner.

And he said, if the £274m Norwich Western Link is built, the area would become a "construction site".

A visualisation of the Norwich Western Link road (Image: Norfolk County Council) Council officers said it was likely the buildings would only be used to house two or three children at a time and would be empty for longer periods than it was in use.

But members of the council's planning committee granted permission at a meeting on Friday.

In 2020, the county council paid the owners of the farm £1.2m for the property and 13 acres of land.

That was because the 3.9-mile Western Link would have "blighted" their property, so the payment was agreed, along with a home loss payment and disturbance costs.

The buildings have recently been used to house Ukrainian refugees.