MP writes in on HMO plan
Carington Street residents’ concern
MP NICKY Morgan has expressed her concerns for residents in a street where an application has been made to increase the number of bedrooms for rent in a detached house.
A planning application has been submitted to Charnwood Borough Council for a home in Carington Street, Loughborough.
The landlord applicant A Bailey is asking for a change of use “from House in Multiple Occupation (Class C4) to Large House in Multiple Occupation.”
The plan is to increase the bedrooms from four to six.
A previous appeal against a refusal to increase the number of bedrooms at the home was turned down by a Government inspector.
The issue of the number of HMOs, often used for student housing, has been to the fore in recent months, with householders in the town saying certain areas are being saturated.
The residents of Carington Street and neighbouring streets have put together a petition, containing close to 40 signatures against the bid.
There have also been more than 20 statements of objections made to the council
In a letter to Charnwood Borough Council’s planning department, next door neighbour Carol Cuttill says: “Even as a Class C4 this property has issues of anti-social behaviour, rubbish left in the street, late night transient noise, parking issues, parties etc.
“No. 22 Carington Street already spoils this quiet residential street and it should never have been allowed in the first place.
“My husband and I strongly object to this planning application.”
Another neighbour has written: “Considerations for the planning department are that the street is quiet mix of elderly, young families and couples.
“Increasing the number of residents in a single property also increases the potential for disturbance. Traffic could become an issue both with access for vehicles as there is not enough parking space at the property for the proposed number of residents should each person have a car.
“This will not only make it unsafe for young children as there are no pavements or pedestrian spaces and the volume of traffic nay also be restrictive for emergency vehicles.”
In her letter to the planning department MP Nicky Morgan mentions the previous application refusal and the inspector’s reasons for refusal over noise disturbance and the effect of parking of vehicles.
She also added that one of the residents had shown her a photograph of rubbish on the driveway to the house saying: “I would suggest that if the external areas of the property look like this already, then additional bedrooms will only exacerbate the situation.”
However an environmental health officer at the borough council states in a consultation document that there had been no reports of noise nuisance to his department, in relation to the house, in the past five years.
And Hannah Jamieson of Epinal Court has written in supporting the application:
She says: “I was a cleaner of the property that conducted the end of year clean. I see no reason as to why the application shouldn’t be granted.
“For saying it is a student accommodation, the house was always reasonably clean when attended by myself.
“As for large amounts of rubbish on the front of the property, corresponding to one of the neighbour’s photos, it is not a regular occurrence, after completing the clean we left rubbish on the front awaiting collection and it was cleared within two weeks.”