Planning permission for a HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) in Antrim was granted by Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council’s Planning Committee despite more than 100 objections. The application was approved for change of use of a dwelling into a House of Multiple Occupation at 221 Bush Manor, in Antrim, at a meeting recently. Planning officer Ashleigh Wilson told the committee the property is located 480 metres from Antrim Hospital. She said that the “footprint” of the dwelling would remain unchanged with two parking spaces and the proposal includes the conversion of the living room into a fourth bedroom. She reported 114 letters of objection and one letter of support for the proposal. She noted concerns raised relate to insufficient parking, traffic, potential noise and disturbance, negative impact on character, waste and litter, anti-social behaviour and over-development. Points of support included the need for affordable housing options. The officer went on to say the proposed change of use to a house in multiple occupation is “acceptable” as the addition of one bedroom is “not thought to significantly increase the number of persons capable of living within the property” and it is considered that there are not a significant number of HMOs within the surrounding area that would lead to “adverse cumulative impacts”. She added the recommendation is to grant planning permission. Planning consultant Azman Khairuddin told the committee the applicant is a locum doctor who was on a shift in the radiology department, of a hospital in Scotland, at the time of the meeting. Mr Khairuddin noted a similar application in the area where planning permission was granted. He told the committee the current applicant seeks to meet an “urgent need” of Antrim Area Hospital, which he said “suffers a severe shortage of accommodation for medical staff doing locum work”. He indicated the property currently has two tenants doing locum work who reside in England but stay in Bush Manor while working in Antrim Hospital. He went on to say they work, come home, cook a meal, go to sleep and also “tend to fly back to their home in England, usually at the weekend, possibly every other Friday night”. Residential Area “Every six weeks or so, they tend to take a break at home for a week so they are away from Bush Manor until they return for another six-week stint or so. This means that there is no intensification of use should this dwelling be used as an HMO and would therefore have no impact on this quiet residential area,” he added. Macedon Ulster Unionist Councillor Robert Foster said the proposal is “taking away a large living area and using a garden area” and asked about the size of the “garden room”. Mr Khairuddin said “from the drawings”, the “garden room is significant in size” and there is a “significant amount of internal communal space”. In response to Cllr Foster’s queries over proposed usage, the consultant explained it is a “stint in locum work” and a time when folk will be “away for a wee bit of a break before coming back”. Threemilewater Alliance Alderman Tom Campbell commented that the concept of HMOs is “not a new one”. Mr Khairuddin stated: “There is a very specific need by our local hospital, our local NHS, which is under strain and when folk come over and they need somewhere to stay, the applicant, from his own experience, could see that locum staff had added stress trying to find somewhere local to stay and that is his business model of purchasing this property for conversion or change of use to HMO,” he explained. Cllr Foster pointed out that DfI (Department for Infrastructure) identified parking at the proposed location as “sub-standard”. He also noted there is a minimum space requirement for a HMO. He also asked why NI Water has not been consulted. “There is nothing to say that that property could not have two people per room, so it would be an intensification,” he stated. Sign up for a free Northern Ireland World newsletter and let us bring the news to you Barry Diamond, head of planning, replied: “There is no intensification for NI Water because there are no additional toilets. In the absence of additional shower facilities or additional toilet facilities, or additional waste water in terms of a utility room, NI Water would have very little remit because they are not trying to make a new connection. “We can’t deal with how busy a household is and that is not what planning is necessarily there for.” Mr Diamond pointed out DfI Roads is “taking the position of a worst case scenario”. He stressed it would not be operating “like a hotel”. He also remarked the property may not be used just for hospital workers and could be used by students or let out as a HMO, for example. Airport Sinn Fein Cllr Annemarie Logue asked in relation to HMOs if a licence would be for five years and if there were any breaches or concerns from residents, if it could be reassessed. Mr Diamond said such licensing is outside his remit and he did not want to comment on the subject. Airport DUP Ald Matthew Magill queried the amenity of a downstairs bedroom with a large window fronting onto a street. Mr Diamond replied: “It is traditionally, probably unusual, to have a bedroom on the ground floor in a dwelling house but not unusual at all to have it on a ground floor in an apartment building. If it is acceptable in an apartment building, why would it not be acceptable in a dwelling?” Ald Campbell proposed accepting the officer’s recommendation to approve the application, seconded by Cllr Logue. Planning permission was granted with five councillors in favour and four against. Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter

Original source: gb