The agent trying to secure consent for a £210,000 five bedroom house to be turned into a nine bedroom room house in multiple occupation (HMO) told Fenland planners he fails to see why potential noise is an issue.
“The area is well screened – visually and acoustically- on all sides,” Chris Walford of Peter Humphrey Associates told Fenland Council.
“I fail to see how noise generation of individual occupiers with no familial or other connection would generate more noise than a large family living there as a five-bed dwelling”.
Mr Walford believes he has finally overcome all possible objections to turning 17 Leverington Road, Wisbech, into a HMO.
He believes the latest objection – of parking- can be overcome by providing 11 car park spaces in the rear grounds.
Planning officer Jennifer Thomas told him that if the amenity issue and parking are sorted “I would be hopeful that we could overcome the potential impacts of the development.
“Shall we extend the expiry of the application until April 15 to work this through?”
Mr Walford told her, in a return email, that the housing officer Jo Evans had been consulted prior to submission of the application “and she was happy with the mix and number of rooms. We are therefore to keep it at nine rooms if we can.”
Mr Walford said the dynamics of the household where no one has familial or other connections would be no different if there were six or 16 people living there.
Officials have pointed out to Mr Walford that the original house could be occupied by six people as permitted development but by increasing it to nine bedrooms (and occupation by up to 16 people) would mean a 165 per cent increase to that which might be deemed permitted development.
Referring to car parking spaces, Mr Walford said that a local letting agency, Regal of Bridge Street, had confirmed that less than 10 per cent of their tenants own cars and so parking was not an issue.
“It must also be noted that we have had other successful planning applications (some retrospective) for similar conversions on both Lynn Road and Norwich Road. All of these had nil off-road parking provision, all of which are a similar distance from the town centre to the application site”.
Neighbours have signed a petition in a bid to prevent the house being turned into a HMO.
The house has been bought by Guyhirn businessman Alan Samuels and he must wait until April to see if permission is given.
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