A FORMER student block which was once a Crewe hotel and curry house is to be converted into a children's home.

Plans submitted to Cheshire East Council show how The Wharf in Thomas Street will be transformed from three self-contained houses made up of 21-student residences into the specialist home catering for families who need respite care from everyday parenting.

The current accommodation will be reconfigured to house up to 10 young people staying overnight either on a planned basis or to meet emergency, short-term needs with the services manned by 10 staff.

Broadgrove Planning and Development, acting as agents for the developers, has made a change of use application proposing one residential unit of eight bedrooms, an outreach unit including five bedrooms and two staff bedrooms. There would also be an emergency unit with six study rooms/bedrooms.

The developers say no additional external building work is needed to accommodate the new design and they propose to relocate the existing refuse/recycling store across the current car park and reuse it as a porter's office.

Broadgrove states in the application: "The care home will be highly regulated by OFSTED and provide an important step for children, offering them a nurturing environment while also providing respite for parents who are struggling from the demands of full-time childcare.

"It will be the subject of inspections twice a year and will be well resourced in order to provide a variety of activities and opportunities for the young people.

"The daily weekday routine of the young persons would look like that of any child living in a family home. For example, getting ready and going to school, completing homework in the evening, helping with cooking and cleaning chores and attending after school clubs."

The home will be occupied over the weekend with activities taking place on and off site.

The developers stress that while the care home might generate additional traffic it would unlikely be much different to that generated by the current 21-bed HMO, House of Multiple Occupation, which could potentially accommodate 42 people.

They say the ethos of the home is to function as a home where children can feel safe and secure and provide accommodation for children whose parents face pressure from full-time childcare.

They note that in granting planning permission for the previous HMO application for student accommodation Cheshire East planners accepted that a residential use is appropriate for the area.

Before it was turned into student accommodation in 2013 the building combined the Sleepers Hotel and the Bollywood Masala Restaurant next to the mainline rail tracks.