Application for Wheatley house conversion with over 100 oppositions unanimously refused

This month, Doncaster Council’s planning committee rejected an application to turn a family home in Wheatley into a house of multiple occupation (HMO).

The plans would have seen a five-bedroom home on 18 Lifford Road converted into one seven-bed home with a detached one-bed apartment.

Some 32 individual letters of opposition to the application were received by the council, alongside a petition against it with 90 signatures.

The application was deferred by the planning committee on two separate occassions to seek clarification on waste management and on-street parking with a site visit.

On all three occasions that the application was debated, neighbouring resident Richard Maddox spoke in opposition on behalf of those who signed the petition.

He expressed concerns over several elements including increased noise, a lack of space and on-street parking concerns.

Ward councillors Gemma Cobby and Dave Shaw also opposed the application.

Coun. Shaw highlighted that while the bedrooms were listed as above space regulations for licensing a HMO, the measurements listed included their en-suite bathrooms.

Licensing regulations specify that bedroom size regulations should be exclusive of en-suites, therefore the rooms did not meet these.

Councillors also expressed concerns that the area marked for bins would be required to hold waste for at least eight people as well as bike storage.

The application was unanimously refused by the committee for reasons including overdevelopment of the site, poor living conditions and waste management concerns.