Planning objection success - County Road

planning objection success
Members of BSACC attended the SBC Planning Committee meeting recently as our community had grave concerns about yet another home being turned into a House in Multiple Occupancy.

S/09/0469/RO Location: 149 County Road
The proposal was change of use from residential dwelling (C3) to house in multiple occupation (Sui Generis) and single storey rear extension.

This planning application was brought to the planning committee due to concerns by residents and the community council. The Officers proposal was that planning permission was to be granted subject to conditions.

The Broad Street Area Community Council put these objections forward: (Read by Kevin Leakey - Secretary)

Whilst I am going to be talking about objections to 149 County Rd. the objections are intrinsically linked to the planning application at 151/153 County Rd.

Firstly, The ongoing conversion of family homes in County Road into multiple occupation properties goes against the Government Planning Guidance for Housing PPS3, which seeks to create sustainable, inclusive and mixed communities in all areas.
The main characteristics of a mixed community are a variety of housing, and a mix of different households such as families with children, single person households and older people.
Converting 149 into an HMO will go against this guidance by continuing the move to convert more and more homes in this area to HMO’s.
This trend is encouraging a single type of dwelling rather than a mix, and is leading to more families and older people leaving the area and discouraging new families from moving in, leading to an unbalanced mix of residents and housing.

Further to this, Whilst I understand that the east side of County Road, where this property is located, is just outside of the Central Area Action Plan boundary, County Road does in fact form an integral part of the Broad Street Area, and the Broad Street Area is an integral part of the Action Plan, and to quote from the plan, it says –
‘The growth in the number of Houses in Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) in the Broad Street area is a major concern’
Which highlights perfectly that there is a problem with HMO’s in the Area and this application, if given permission will simply add to the problem.

Secondly the anti social behaviour. To date there have been ongoing problems with rubbish, noise - noise being a particular problem at night, and anti-social behaviour at 151/153 County Rd, which has been corroborated by the Police, and while I understand we are talking about 149, and the Committee has to look at the application from a purely planning perspective, and anti-social behaviour may take you outside of the realms of that planning perspective, I would still urge you all to take on board the anti-social aspect of the objections because, if permission is given, 149 County Rd. will become linked to 151/153 forming one single HMO.

If there is a need for an onsite manager for these properties, as forms part of the application, then it needs to be asked why?

And looking at the Design and Access Statement it gives you the answer - the reason given for an onsite Manager is - ‘it not only benefits the people in these rooms, but also provides a more stable environment for neighbouring properties’.
So saying – it will provide a more stable environment for neighbouring properties, suggests that things are not very stable now, and if this is the case, bearing in mind that there is already managers facilities in 151/153, then anti social behaviour is an issue that has not been dealt with to date and the current onsite management is not working so can only lead to the conclusion that the rubbish, noise and anti-social behaviour will only get worse, to the detriment of those living in neighbouring properties.

So to conclude, bearing in mind that SBC has no adopted HMO strategy to curb the amount of homes being converted, if you cannot fully justify this application against the objections raised, then I urge you to reject the application, this will not only help preserve a family home, but also help prevent the current move in equilibrium to a primarily HMO community.