Family of disabled boy celebrate winning East Woodhay home improvement bid (From Basingstoke Gazette)
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Family of disabled boy celebrate winning East Woodhay home improvement bid
7:00am Sunday 24th February 2013 in News By Helen Morton
A COUPLE who have a severely disabled son are celebrating after a council committee ruled they can rebuild their house around his needs.
The couple’s 11-year-old son George Bayliffe is quadriplegic and has severe cerebral palsy, global developmental delay and visual impairment.
His parents said they were thrilled with the decision by the council to allow them to demolish their existing property, in Knights Lane, East Woodhay.
The couple, who also have a three-year-old son Reuben, will replace the bungalow with a new building which will include a warm-water hydropool, physiotherapy room and carer accommodation for round-the-clock care.
Dad Jason Bayliffe said they were “very happy” with the decision to grant planning approval.
He said: “It will make a huge difference for George and the family. We are very happy.”
Mr Bayliffe told the development control committee, which approved the application, that he and his wife wanted to build a “home for life” out of “necessity not nicety”.
Some neighbours objected to the plans. Neighbour Brian Johnson from Knights Lane, spoke for a group of residents at the meeting.
He said the proposed home was “too large”, and said it would be “distinctly out character with bungalows in the row.”
Ward member for East Woodhay, Cllr Clive Sanders said he had sympathy both for the objectors and the family but said the he believed that in the context of the surrounding area, the planned building “would fit in”.
He said he supported the recommendation by borough officers to approve the application.
