A DECISION to close a respite centre for children with special needs is to be reviewed.

Families using Lavender House in Colchester have pleaded with Essex County Council to keep the lifeline facility.

However, the council voted to close it last month, favouring expanding the provision offered at The Maples in Harlow.

Lib Dem councillor Mike Mackrory, who has asked for the decision to be looked at again at a call-in session today, said: “Parents have said to me their children get agitated if they have to stop at a set of traffic lights, let alone a trip across the county.”

He added if parents are unable to travel to Harlow there may be severe consequences for them and their families.

He said: “If they don’t go then there will be other issues for children’s services. and there well may be an impact in later life in which case there will be calls on adult social care services in a sector which is already stretched.

“We feel we want them to look at it again, perhaps with some sort of alternative on the east side of the county.

“If the alternative was based somewhere a bit more centrally then it might be more logical, but not in Harlow.”

Gary Knowles, whose son, Ashley, 16, attends Lavender House for 60 nights per year, said Harlow – around a 90 minute car journey from Great Holland – was too far to be of use for Ashley.

He said: “We are going to speak again to help fully get them to see sense.”

Lavender House had been given a three year reprieve in 2019 but the moves to close it came last month as the county council looks to save money amid budget pressures.

The council says its plans will result in improved availability of placements at weekends and placements for seven nights of the week.

Dependent on scheduling around children and young people’s needs, the capacity at The Maples will be a minimum of five children and a maximum of eight children visiting each night.

This equates to 1,820 – 2,912 nights per year.

This is more than is currently delivered through the two premises due to them having limited staff capacity to have multiple children staying with high levels of need.

However, parents of children from north Essex say it is simply too far to go.