Proposal for HMO approved after original plans were rejected

In January, a proposal to turn a vacant dwelling on Derby Street, Chadderton, into the HMO, which could accommodate a total of 16 people, was rejected on behalf of the council.

This was due to low levels of natural light and inadequate head room in two bedrooms, which the planning officer said would have made the bedrooms unsuitable to live in.

However, an updated application, which was submitted in early March with amendments to the original plans, has now been approved, despite objections from residents.

The proposal will provide six two-person bedrooms and four one-person bedrooms, with two shared kitchen/dining areas.

According to the application report, amendments have been made to the two bedrooms to ensure they suitable to live in.

One bedroom was the basement room, which will now have an additional window to provide more natural light, while the other bedroom will have roof lights installed to also provide more natural light.

Six comments were left on the new application, after seven were left on the previous application, all of which expressed objections to the plans.

The main concerns raised by residents on the latest application centred around the current lack of parking spaces on Derby Street and the fact they were not informed of the application via a letter but instead by a notice on a lamppost.

The planning officer, Emma Breheny, said the plans would not have a "significant" negative impact on the privacy or amount of natural light for nearby residents.

She also said she did not expect any additional noise which would disturb neighbours or that the HMO would lead to a rise in anti-social behaviour.

In terms issue over parking, she provided the same explanation as she did on the previous application report, saying the issue could not be addressed during the processing of the application.

She recommended the application be given the green light and on Tuesday, May 2, the proposal was approved on behalf of the council.