A bed and breakfast in Sandown could be turned into a youth facility, helping teenage care leavers become independent.
The Lyndhurst Guest House, on Royal Crescent, has been running since 1999 but was put up for sale in the past year.
Wightoak Youth Services has stepped in to propose changing the hotel building into a residential care home for young people.
Plans have been lodged with the Isle of Wight Council to help young people who have previously been in a care setting as they approach adulthood, with the facility becoming their home.
Agents on behalf of Wightoak, BJC Planning, say the facility is vital as a stepping stone for young people leaving care and hoping to find an adult role in society.
Wightoak Youth Services provide other such facilities on the Island and provide therapeutic support, basic life skills and emotional and practical support for 16 to 24-year-olds.
The Sandown guest house would mainly be occupied by 16 to 18-year-olds, each with their own living space, helping them to go on and lead normal, successful lives, BJC Planning says, although some may need to be supported for longer.
To prove the building should change use, a letter has been submitted as part of the planning documents from Hose Rhodes Dickson to show there have been no successful offers to buy the bed and breakfast business.
Round-the-clock staff would be present to support the young people so the hotel’s rear annexe would house overnight accommodation for staff to sleep on site.
The 9 current bedrooms would stay as they are, with communal areas changed to provide kitchen, dining and living facilities. Facilities would be upgraded and added, including updating the fire alarm system, additional emergency lighting and extinguishers and security system.
You can view the application, 23/00302/FUL, on the council’s planning register. Comments can be submitted until 24th March.
At least one thing is certain you’ll see an increase in police presence in the area
These young people should be in family homes like foster care or supportive lodging families not expensive businesses making huge profits from tax payers and turning young people to crime . At 16/17 they are still kids and if living with their own families would not have to fend for themselves and thrown on streets at 18yrs. Education is till 19yrs and this should be absolute min age to leave care, most would welcome to stay in foster care till 25yrs all much cheaper long term than residential which has been proven for year’s as damaging to young people into adult hood and relationship security.
Need castration and sterilisation to ensure that we are only funding this generation of mis-fits, not their clones forever more imo
I’m sure they’ll be made to feel welcome.
Just when you thought Sandown couldn’t get any worse….
Why are you thinking of moving there?
They are children put into care for good reasons.
Give them a chance at leading a happy life instead of perpetuating the circle of abuse.
There ‘abusers’ were also children ONCE. And no small doubt that most of these will grow up to be equally as vile, and costing us a fortune.
Such see kindness as weakness, and abuse to the max their ‘victim’ status.
So a landlord in the guise of help is allowed to charge extortionate rent for a box room. Just fodder for someone’s property portfolio.
got to feel sorry for the poor neighbours