Land near Barton-under-Needwood will become home to a brand new ‘village’ just for poorly kids.
It will include ten lodges that visitors can stay in, as well as accommodation for staff.
Around 500 families are expected to use the facility – which will be open all year round – annually once it opens.
The charity Kids Village says it has strong links to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Make a Wish UK, Children with Cancer UK, Kids Cancer Charity, Promise Dreams and Rueben’s Retreat, who will refer people to use the site.
As part of the proposals, there will be a new private access road off Dogshead Lane .
But the plans met with opposition from the local parish committee in Wychnor. It said while it agreed with the charity’s aims, it didn’t feel the land close to Wychnor Park Country Club was the right spot.
And they cited concerns the development could have an impact on a “rare variety of crayfish” in the local river, although council officers from East Staffordshire Borough Council said they knew of no evidence to support the claims that the crustaceans had a habitat there.
Addressing the planning meeting that went on to approve the scheme, Sarah Beaumont, chair of the Wychnor committee, said:
“We are delighted that a new charity has proposed a holiday park for sick and recovering children and their families.
“We are, however, concerned that this is the wrong location. Wychnor is remote, poorly signposted and sat navs don’t work.
“Experience shows that navigating around Wychnor is hard, especially for those who aren’t permanent residents.
“Many people visiting and working in Wychnor get lost – this could be fatal for sick children staying at Kids Village needing medical support.”
Sarah Beaumont
But the charity’s founder, Sammy Fletcher, said she was confident the project would be a success.
She told the committee she was diagnosed with cancer when she was nine-years-old, and was treated at Birmingham Children’s Hospital. She added that a trip to a holiday village in America inspired her to establish Kids Village.
“The site itself will be a peaceful, relaxing place for families to come. The idea is that they will spend time together with their family in the lodges themselves and in our central facility, called The Hive.
“We plan to have Christmas every week – Santa will come, we’ll have activities, we’ll do a big breakfast buffet in the morning to bring families together and provide lots of stuff on site for them to enjoy.
“The idea is that children will be signed off to be well enough to come to us, which is exactly what happened for me to be able to go to America.”
Sammy Fletcher
