CHANGED plans for an HMO in Treherbert have been approved after councillors had opposed previous ones.
The amended plans for a house in multiple occupation for four people at 108 Bute Street were approved by Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) planning committee on Thursday, March 20.
This application was originally reported to committee on March 6 and councillors voted against officer recommendations to approve it due to concerns about the quality of living conditions for future residents, noise and disturbance, the sustainability of the location and the impact on highway safety as a result of additional on-street car parking demand.
The application was deferred for a further report to highlight the potential strengths and weaknesses of taking a decision against officer recommendations.
The planning report said the applicant’s agent watched the live stream of the committee on March 6 and, having listened to members’ concerns, had since discussed options with the planning case officer and his client.
Revised floor plans have been submitted which incorporate a significant change, the report said.
Each of the four bedrooms are now proposed to have an en suite shower room meaning the ground floor bathroom would be removed to enable a much larger kitchen.
The rear yard, which already included shared amenity space and a cycle store, now includes a designated area for waste storage, the report said.
The reasons given for approval were that the proposed conversion and change of use to a house in multiple occupation would not be considered to have a detrimental impact on the character of the site or highway safety and would not result in an unacceptable intensification of use.
Another reason was that the property would retain its residential use (in common with the majority of the surrounding development), benefits from being sustainably located and would be acceptable in terms of the amenity of future residents so it would comply with policies in the Rhondda Cynon Taf Local Development Plan and with the council’s supplementary planning guidance regarding HMOs and the development of flats.
A fourth condition has been added in respect of the scope of the development to limit the occupancy to four people.
Councillor Mike Powell said the applicant had listened to the committee’s concerns and amended the plans so if the committee were minded to refuse again they’d be leaving themselves wide open for an appeal with costs.
He said it was a case of not being very happy with the situation with HMOs but until they could come up with something better they’d have to bite the bullet sometimes and deal with what was in front of them.
Councillor Loretta Tomkinson said it was refreshing to see that the applicant had actually listened and not just gone straight to appeal.
Councillor Scott Emanuel said his objection still stood because of the “unsustainability” of the area for the people who were going to live there and that it would lead to the over-intensification of this kind of development in places like Treherbert.
Councillor Sharon Rees said these were not ideal applications but in fairness to the applicant they had taken on board a lot of what was said by members in the last meeting.
