Controversial application to turn Wheatley home into seven individual units deferred for second time

Plans to convert a terraced home on 18 Lifford Road, Wheatley, have been delayed by Doncaster Council’s planning committee for the second time for further clarification on parking.

If approved, the five-bedroom house would be converted into seven individual units plus an outhouse apartment, or a house of multiple occupancy (HMO).

While the front of the house would remain the same, a back extension would be built and the property’s outbuilding converted into a self-sufficient apartment.

The home’s existing kitchen and living room would service seven residents who would separately rent the rooms in the main building.

The plans have received 32 representations in opposition as well as a petition against it with 90 signatures.

Concerns listed included pressure on drainage, waste management, anti-social behaviour, noise issues and parking issues on the street.

Richard Maddox, who lives next door to the site, spoke in opposition during the meeting on behalf of his household:

“We all still feel strongly this is the wrong proposal for this area, particularly due to its scale, the potential for noise disturbance and the waste environmental issues.”

“As you’ll have seen, the HMO is designed to maximise the number of bedsits it can possibly cater for in the existing terraced house footprint, and the sole focus of the design has been to ensure that the maximum number of rentable units is maintained, by ensuring all the rooms, including the shared communal areas, just meet minimum planning obligations.”

Mr Maddox also calculated that each resident of the main house would have no more than 1.75 square metres of the communal living room to themselves each.

The application was first brought to the committee on 22 August, where it was deferred for councillors to visit the site.

During this month’s meeting, five councillors at first voted to reject the proposal, mainly due to concerns over how parking permits would be distributed.

The committee then came to an agreement to defer the application for a second time while more information is sought on this.