A CONCERNED resident spoke out at a council meeting against plans to build an occupational therapy centre at a psychiatric unit in the middle of a plush housing estate.

Partnerships in Care was given the go-ahead to build the centre at its Kemple View unit near the Rhyddings and Dales housing estates off the A59 in Langho.

The unit specialises in caring for patients with chronic and long-term illnesses.

Members of Ribble Valley Council's planning committee heard bosses at the unit wanted to build the new occupational therapy centre and erect 11 street lights.

But residents were concerned that Kemple View was gearing up to take more patients.

They claimed the lighting would cause an unpleasant glare and the unit would overlook the backs of houses.

Kemple View manager Peter Handy said the street lights would illuminate the area and make it safer for drivers. And the new occupational therapy unit would be well away from from residential properties and screened by trees.

"We are not talking about floodlighting the site and it is not our intention to keep residents awake at night. We have always said we would be developing occupational therapy services on the site and this will be a high-quality building with a high degree of architectural integrity," he said.

But householder Timothy Holt claimed the new plans were the "thin end of the wedge."

"Eleven lights are more than is needed and the proposed new building is an afront to our area. This psychiatric unit has intruded in our lives enough and we fear further facilities at the site are the thin end of the wedge," he said.

Earlier this year, Kemple View bosses were given permission to erect a Colditz-style fence around the unit.

Residents complained bitterly that it was the type used around prisons, detention centres and nuclear sites.

But managers wanted the fence in response to the concerns of some residents that patients were occasionally leaving the unit and wandering around the housing estate.

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