Staffordshire Moorlands District Council is to ask the Government for an overhaul of planning regulations around applications for children's care homes.

The vote was taken at a recent district council meeting - but was not without opposition, sparking a robust debate among councillors.

Cllr Peter Wilkinson explained why he thought the overhaul was needed, and requested asking the Education Secretary for his support.

He said: "There is great concern about the emergence of children's care homes in the Staffordshire Moorlands. These are often large private houses, purchased by entrepreneurs who then convert them into children's homes without a change of use planning consent.

"The position at the moment is that a dwelling (use class C3) included use for up to six persons living together as a single household where care is provided and it is considered that there is no change of use and planning permission is not required.

"This is wrong because these are businesses in every sense and planning permission should be obtained as there is a change of use from dwelling house (C3) to children's home(C2) and full consultation should be undertaken with relevant stakeholders.

"Could I request that a Notice of Motion be considered by the Authority calling for planning permission for the change of use of a private dwelling (C3) to children's home (C2) and if it is felt worthy of support then I request that it goes directly to Mr Nadhim Zahawi MP Secretary of State for Education with copies to all Staffordshire Moorlands MPs asking for their support."

The debate comes after it was reported nationally how the Independent Children's Home Association said that new care homes are regularly met with hostility by nearby residents.

Locally, debates have recently been held around applications for local children's homes in Leek, Biddulph and Brown Edge.

The motion faced opposition from some councillors, including Cllr Jill Salt, who said: "This motion is not about supporting children, this is about a prejudice towards those children and where those care homes are placed.

"If you are so keen on listening to the views of young people and supporting them, then why don't you invite a young person who is being looked after in one of these homes, to find out what they think about making it more difficult for children to live in a caring home?

"This is just a planning thing to make it more difficult for children's care homes to be in affluent areas. This is not about children, it's about ignorance and NIMBY-ism, and this should not be supported."

Cllr Darren Price was also in opposition. He said: "I've worked in children's homes, and when I see some of the objections from local residents opposing these homes and the language used, I was hurt and extremely offended.

"We've had people talking about effects on high class homes, house prices, and potential issues with needles. These were clear implications from residents. They aren't objecting because they are bothered about care, they are objecting because they don't want these homes near them."

Cllr John Jones on the other hand was one of those to support the motion, saying: "I'm a retired paramedic, so I've been into lots of these places. Most of them are pretty good, but some are appalling, and some people are happy to just buy a big house and stick the kids in it.

"All this motion wants to do is put more scrutiny on where these kids can go, it's got nothing to do with NIMBY-ism. I want these kids to be in the community. It's about making sure they get put in the right places."

Following the debate, a vote was taken and the motion was passed.