The creation of a new family contact centre in Peterborough has been approved.

Plans have been approved to convert Derby House on Derby Drive in Dogsthorpe to use as a family contact centre.

The centre is a place for children in the care of the council to spend time with their parents, siblings or relatives in a controlled environment, supervised by council staff.

Derby House was originally built as a children’s care home and has therefore been selected as suitable for the hosting of ‘family time.’

It is proposed that Family Time will normally take place between 10am and 6pm Monday to Friday. Staff will be on site prior to this to support administration tasks. These times could be slightly altered to start at 9:30am and finish at 7pm when required.

Derby House is planned to host up to 10 Family Time sessions three times a day.

The building will also be used after 6pm and during weekends for its sensory room.

Family Time is currently hosted at the Welland Centre but the council has said that it is ‘no longer fit for purpose due to its age, location and there being no capacity to make structural changes to the building.

The application states: “PCC has spent 3+years seeking an alternative Family Time venue, but there is nothing within the buildings owned by PCC that are suitable, and all other external options viewed will cost well in excess of £1m.

"It is PCC’s belief that the residents of Peterborough would want PCC to utilise its funds in the most efficient way by utilising existing buildings and to divert money at other agreed priority areas when there is a solution for Family Time at Derby House.”

The application can be viewed on Peterborough City Council’s planning portal using reference

25/00974/R3FUL.