A NURSING home’s controversial plans to expand next door have been rejected by councillors due to fears regarding the detrimental impact on a neighbouring family.

A petition launched in opposition to an application for four extra rooms to Corbett House in Droitwich was signed by 118 local residents, including immediate neighbour Jason Wathes.

At present, the nursing home on Corbett Avenue is next door but one to Mr Wathes, who lives in a semi-detached property with his children.

In a statement, he said his family already suffers through a “great deal of noise” due to “distressed patients”, as well as ambulances and staff coming and going.

“One recent episode involved an elderly woman screaming ' help me' throughout the day and night for several days,” he said.

Speaking at a Wychavon District Council planning committee meeting on Thursday, Cllr Bob Brookes said the level of noise “would be intolerable and especially frightening for young children” if the plan was approved.

“If this was a detached house, the situation might be different. It’s unreasonable and unfair to inflict this on the other half of the house.”

Nina Nagra, home partner and manager, assured committee members that if noise became an issue, then “additional soundproofing” would be added in the walls.

“Although elderly poorly people would make far less noise than a family of six with small children,” she added.

The committee heard that there would only ever be up to seven staff members working at any one time, with most of them walking or getting public transport.

Cllr Brookes said he has “concerns that it’s just some wishy-washy kind of promise” regarding further insulation.

“We’ve heard vague assurances about putting in noise insulation and so forth, yet we have no figures about what sort of level of sound [a dementia patient] produces, what sort of conductivity of the wall would be.”

Cllr Tony Miller said soundproofing is only “achievable on a new-build”.

“On a build like this you’ve got the roof trusses continuing, [because of] the way the building was constructed. You will always get a transference of noise. I say that as an acoustic engineer.”

Cllr Rob Adams said: “You’re giving the impression, members, that senior people that have got problems with their health are crying out and screaming out all day and this is just not so.

“I understand the feelings of the people next door. We’ve talked about noise mitigation. If a person is making noise through health, surely [Ms Nagra] will move them over to the other side.”

Cllr Liz Eyre: “Everything we do should be triangulated. Environmentally sound, economically sound and socially sound. I find the leg of the stool socially sound, not quite right here. I don’t think it fits with the MPPF. One of the stool’s legs is broken.”

Nine members voted in favour of Cllr Brookes' proposal to reject the application due to the adverse impact on the quality of life and amenities on the Wathes.