Following the withdrawal of the planning application to change the use of 112 Grovehall Drive to accommodate a children’s home, it has emerged that the care company which submitted the application is to sue the property owner, convicted sex offender Abid Mahmood Younis.
As we reported previously QASA Care Services Ltd had planned to lease the building and run the children’s home, but agreed to withdraw their planning application in the light of the owner’s past conviction.
QASA’s Director, Omar Farooq, told the BBC:
“If at the beginning we were aware of his conviction we would never even think of opening a residential home in this house, it just does not make sense.
“It is absurd to think of doing this. If we had known about his conviction at the beginning we would have walked away and not signed a lease or exchanged any monies.
“We have spoken to our solicitors and will be issuing proceedings against Mr Younis to recover loss of our earnings paid out to him.”
Whilst it might seem obvious that a convicted sex offender should not own a building housing a children’s home, it is not a ‘material issue’ in planning law and councillors may not have able to stop the application at Plans Panel if it had proceeded.
It has also emerged that, contrary to comments on Facebook and in South Leeds Life, correspondance seen by South Leeds Life shows that Beeston & Holbeck councillors were taking action to stop the application proceeding as early as 13 December 2024.
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