'Much needed' Swindon mental health unit given go ahead
BBCA specialist mental health unit has received permission to build an extension which will be used as a calming space for patients.
The "much-needed" unit at Marlborough House in Swindon will offer a "low-stimulus environment" for distressed patients to recover in.
Neighbours of the facility have raised concerns over the prospect of increased noise disturbance.
The number of patients being treated at the unit will not increase.
Marlborough House, on Okus Road, is a mental health facility where young people aged 11 to 18 live and receive treatment.
The application from Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust was for a single-storey extension to the southern side of the unit.
Swindon Borough Council voted for the plan by 11 votes, with no votes against but two abstentions, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
The extension will contain a high-dependency unit with a bedroom and living space separated from the rest of the building, with a staff observation room in between.
The health trust also wants to increase the fencing around the grounds to prevent patients from absconding.
Neighbours from the nearby Tithe Brand Crescent objected to the proposal, raising concerns over increased noise and the potential danger of patients leaving.
'We already suffer noise'
"I represent all the residents from the nine houses whose gardens back on to Marlborough House," said one resident, Philip O'Brien.
"There will be a visual impact from the new extension even as a single storey because it is on higher ground," he continued.
"And we already suffer noise. It can be disturbing to hear distressed outbursts, crying, screaming or banging on the fence," added Mr O'Brien.
Dr Gillian Combe, a consultant psychiatrist at Marlborough House for several years, spoke in favour of the extension at Marlborough House.
"It [The facility] has been in operation for 25 years now, and treats young people with mental health problems," she said.
"They are the first tier of conditions, the least acute - most have anorexia nervosa, but some have suicidal ideation. About 60 per cent have autism and sensory needs," she added.
Dr Combe assured councillors that Marlborough House will continue treating only 12 patents at any one time.
"We will not be adding to the number of patients, or increasing the acuteness of conditions we treat," Dr Combe said.
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