'Impact on local character' - Plans for six-bed HMO in Jarrow thrown out after more than 600 people object
Plans refused for new six-bed house in multiple occupation in Jarrow after hundreds of objections
Plans for a new six-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO) in Jarrow have been refused by councillors, following hundreds of public objections.
South Tyneside Council’s planning committee this week voted to refuse plans to change the use of 161 Wansbeck Road in the borough’s Monkton ward.
This included an application to convert the property from a dwelling house to a six-bed, six-person HMO, with a communal kitchen.
The application followed South Tyneside Council’s previous Labour cabinet’s decision to launch an “immediate” borough-wide Article 4 Direction removing permitted development rights for small HMOs, meaning that planning permission is needed for all HMOs across the borough.
The planning application from developers for 161 Wansbeck Road noted work already started on the property but had not been completed.
A planning statement submitted with the HMO application noted the property would be professionally designed and managed and aimed at “young working professionals” and would provide “additional, high-quality accommodation that supports local housing needs”.
Developers also maintained that six tenants would “not be significantly greater than those of a family unit” and that the development could be “easily absorbed into the neighbourhood.”
During a council consultation the plans sparked significant public opposition, with 63 individual objections and a petition in opposition with more than 600 signatures raising a range of issues.
The concerns, summarised in a council report, included “impact on local character and community balance, proximity to vulnerable residents, noise and residential amenity issues, parking and highway safety issues, and waste and hygiene issues.”
There were also objections to the scheme from Fellgate and Hedworth ward councillor Geraldine Kilgour, who referred the HMO application to the planning committee, and Monkton ward councillor Sheryl Jones.
Plans went before the council’s planning committee on July 21 and council planning officers recommended the scheme for approval.
A council report noted that given the council’s “housing land supply/delivery deficiencies”, the “greatest weight in deciding this application” needed to be given to national planning policy.
It was argued that the HMO would “reduce the current shortfall in terms of housing supply and provide a form of affordable accommodation that meets an identified housing need”.
Council planners said “no significant harm or adverse impacts have been identified in respect of visual and residential amenity, biodiversity, highway safety, or in respect of crime/anti-social behaviour/fear of crime and flood risk/drainage.”
Several members of the public made representations at the crunch town hall planning meeting, raising concerns about the proposed HMO use and wider community impacts, including parking pressures, residential amenity, loss of a family home, high tenant turnover and more.
It was also noted that a HMO plan for a nearby property at 33 Coquet Street had been refused by the council, with an appeal process ongoing.
Following discussions, a formal proposal was launched to reject the Wansbeck Road HMO plan and the refusal motion received backing from the planning committee.
Councillor Shirley Ford, launching the motion, said the reasons for refusal included residential amenity impacts on neighbouring properties and the impact on the character of the area.
The applicant can challenge the council’s refusal by lodging an appeal.
For more information, visit South Tyneside Council’s planning portal website and search for reference 260209.