A PLANNED HMO in the Rhondda has been officially rejected by councillors because of concerns over over-development and the impact on community cohesion.
The application for the four person house in multiple occupation (HMO) in Station Terrace, Treherbert, was officially refused by Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT)’s planning committee on Thursday, September 4.
Their reason for refusal was that the proposal represents an “inappropriate conversion and is considered over development of the site, resulting in an unacceptable intensification of use and poor-quality living accommodation for future residents through the lack of outdoor amenity space and waste storage facilities.”
The committee also decided that the proposal “will result in an adverse impact on the amenities of the area as a consequence of a higher number of transient residents leading towards less community cohesion and undermining the objectives of securing a sustainable community.”
The application was originally reported to the planning committee in July where members were minded to refuse the application against the officers’ recommendation.
They had raised concerns about there being no outside amenity space, a lack of bin storage and that the dwelling would be out of character with the local area.
It was decided to defer a decision on the application for a further report to be considered highlighting the potential strengths and weaknesses of taking a decision contrary to the officer recommendation.
There had been six public letters of objection to the application which raised concerns around things such as parking, over-development, noise and anti-social behaviour, and the impact on the local community.
Councillor Wayne Owen said he was proud to work with councillors who were actually putting living standards of residents before the quick profits of these developers.
But planning officers had recommended approval saying: “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.
“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.”
