A CONTROVERSIAL planning application for the retention of a metal fence around a secure residential unit has been thrown out by a planning control committee.
The retrospective planning application for the three-metre high fence at Baldock Manor on London Road, in Baldock, was discussed by councillors from North Herts District Council yesterday (Thursday) after Nouvita, which manages the facility, failed to get permission to erect the fence.
The fence was erected in March after residents from the care home, some of who are detained under the Mental Health Act, tried to escape the facility.
People living in Hillcrest were calling for action after they discovered what they thought was a residential care home for the elderly is actually a secure unit for people with mental health and substance misuse issues.
The decision means that Nouvita will have to bring down the fence to two metre.
For a full report see next week’s Comet.
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