PLANNING officers have recommended that a proposal to convert a former Stalybridge pub into an eight-bedroomed house in multiple occupation (HMO) be refused.
One scheme to change The Bulls Head, on Knowl Street, was withdrawn in October last year after being met with opposition, before a new application was submitted weeks later.
Tariq Mushtaq, of Oldham-based First Choice Investments, initially applied for a 10-bedroomed
HMO but the planning authority raised concerns over the scale of the plan.
Despite revising the plan, the council says it is “not satisfied” that they can “overcome the concerns with the proposal” ahead of it going before the authority’s Speakers Panel (Planning)
committee.
The proposed HMO would have five bedrooms on the first floor and three on the ground floor -all with an en-suite bathroom.
There would also be a shared living/dining space and a separate communal kitchen and eating area, as well as two car parking spaces.
Minor external alterations would see the overhanging sign of the historic former pub removed and two new windows inserted within the outbuilding at the back, as well as bricking up the remaining opening.
The pub closed its doors for the final time in June 2022 and had been left vacant. It has since become a target of anti-social behaviour and criminal activity, with police discovering a cannabis farm and seizing over 200 plants in May 2023.
According to planning documents, the council has received 25 letters of objection and only four
in support of the plans for the building – which sits within a conservation area of the town centre.
Concerns raised include a loss of privacy, noise, an increase in anti-social behaviour, insufficient waste bins, parking and traffic issues, and the development will not contribute to Stalybridge’s regeneration plans.
However, no objections have been raised by the local highways authority or Environmental Health, while a waste consultee has deemed that the number of bins and their capacity are “satisfactory for the number of residents”.
In a report, the council acknowledges the proposed HMO is in a “suitable and sustainable
location” close to local services, employment and transport opportunities, and would provide a
“minor but valuable contribution” to meeting the borough’s housing needs.
But in recommending refusal, planning officers state the proposal represents “an overdevelopment of the building” and the residential conversion “at the scale of the proposed development” is likely to lead to “unacceptable living conditions for future occupiers”.
They also cite an increased risk of noise and disturbance through traffic and parking conflicts
and people’s movements, which will “detrimental” to residents living on and surrounding Knowl Street.
Addressing waste, officers highlight that it is also “highly likely” that, because of where they are stored and the site’s external layout, bins will not be able to be collected – or permanently kept
on the footpath instead, which would have “an unacceptable environmental and health impact”.
Knowl Street has also been identified by the council as a fly-tipping hotspot, with at least 95
incidents of fly-tipping on land immediately adjacent to the former pub alone in the last 12
months, according to planning documents.
Tameside Council’s Speakers Panel (Planning) committee will decide on Wednesday, January
15, at their meeting at Guardsman Tony Downes House in Droylsden whether to approve or refuse permission.