509, City Road, , Harborne, , Birmingham, B17 8LL

Planning appeal 3368698 at 509, City Road, , Harborne, , Birmingham, B17 8LL (Birmingham City Council) was dismissed on 10 November 2025 by Inspector Sedgwick P, by written representations. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: whether the site is a suitable location for children in care having regard to the levels of crime and anti-social behaviour in the surrounding area, and the effect of the proposed development on crime and a fear of crime.

Change of use from existing dwelling house - Use Class C3 to residential care home - Use Class C2

Authority: Birmingham City Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: community-institutional · Change of use
Inspector: Sedgwick P
Postcode: B17 8LL

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

whether the site is a suitable location for children in care having regard to the levels of crime and anti-social behaviour in the surrounding area, and the effect of the proposed development on crime and a fear of crime
the effect of the proposed development upon the character of the area, with particular regard to the balance and mix of housing
the effect of the proposed development upon the living conditions of occupiers of the property, with particular regard to outlook and light

What decided it

The high level of crime in the surrounding area and the unnecessary risk of harm to vulnerable children from exposure to crime or fear of crime when outside the proposed home made the site unsuitable for a care home, conflicting with Policies DM2 and DM12 and NPPF paragraphs 96 and 135.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies: Policy DM2Policy DM12City note LW-12 of the Birmingham Design Guide (2022)
National Planning Policy Framework: Paragraph 96Paragraph 135

How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.

See how each was applied

The decision letter

Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.

Appeals plan, £15 a month

With an account

What an account adds to this decision

120 other decided appeals within two kilometres of this site. In the app every dot opens its decision, and its letter wherever one was published, and you can draw your own site to see what has been decided around it.AllowedDismissedSplitThis decision

An appeal decision in the app, with the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out beside the letter — Every letter, there to read. We pick out the main issues, the policies and the judgments cited, so you can work through the letter faster.

Searching the full text of appeal decision letters in the app — Search inside every letter. By words or by meaning, filtered by authority, outcome, appeal type and procedure, with every locatable decision on the map and the Inspector named on each.

Start your free trial

More decisions in Birmingham City Council

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2025

Dismissed29 October 20266012986
Land at the Rear of 79 Church Hill Road, Birmingham, B20 3PA
Dismissed29 October 20266011902
Wagamama, 51 Edgbaston Street, Birmingham, B5 4QL
Dismissed27 October 20266013662
22 Wash Lane, Birmingham, B25 8SB
Dismissed22 October 20266015503
60 Mildenhall Road, Great Barr, Birmingham, B42 2PQ
Dismissed22 October 20266015146
9Brittan Close, Birmingham, B34 7NB

The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.