By George Lythgoe, Local Democracy Reporting Service
A PROPOSAL to convert a former Ashton-under-Lyne pub into a house in multiple occupation (HMO) has been rejected – after work had started.
Piles of rubble had been clearly seen outside the Junction Inn, on Mossley Road, after stripping out had taken place.
But Tameside Council has said no to the retrospective application by Drakensburg Ltd to transform it into nine en-suite double bedrooms.
When news of the proposal came out, 130 letters of objection were lodged, with worries including it would not be in keeping with the area, it would be an overdevelopment, it would mean the loss of a valued community facility, it could create parking trouble locally and that it could generate huge amounts of waste with nowhere to store it.
Objectors also worried the proposal could create an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour.
And Tameside Council’s planning officers felt there would not be adequate space in the new HMO to make the living conditions anything other than poor.
Council papers read: “The lack of cooking facilities of the shared facilities in the proposed HMO of this size may foster a sense of isolation in residents, particularly if they are not minded to avail themselves of the shared facilities and confine themselves to the small bed-sitting room and so fail to promote social interaction.
“It is considered that residents are likely to be confined to their room as the proportion of communal space within the property is poor, this applies equally to both internal and external space.
“The layout of the kitchen is also somewhat contrived as explained above. A concern is also the amount of storage and usable space that would be afforded to the residents for example on a practical level as there is no space for residents to wash and dry laundry including storage space and there is insufficient space for cooking facilities.
“Consequently, the proposed development would give rise to unacceptable harm to the living conditions of the proposed occupiers.”
And in a decision notice, Tameside Council states: “The application fails to justify the loss of a community facility.
“The requirement to safeguard against the unnecessary loss of valued facilities is not satisfactorily justified within the submission, and the applicant has provided insufficient evidence and details to demonstrate there is no demand for the premises or that it is unviable to retain the site for a public house.
“It is not considered that the building is suited to residential development in a manner that can achieve an acceptable design.
“The building represents a significant intensification of use which would comprise of overdevelopment of the site
“The building does not lend itself to residential accommodation on a scale which is proposed.
“The development as proposed fails to provide adequate quality useable/dedicated proposed outdoor amenity space for the residents of the proposed development.
“The outdoor amenity area is constrained by the size and appropriateness of the plot. The private amenity areas provided offers limited space/opportunities for private amenity and is of extremely poor quality which would not adequately serve the health or well-being of the occupants.
“The scale of the proposed HMO is likely to cause an increased risk of noise and disturbance, by way of traffic/parking conflicts and people movements, which will be detrimental to the amenity of existing residential occupiers.”