At a recent meeting of Crewe Town Council’s Planning Committee on Monday 17th October, Crewe Town Councillors registered their objections to recent applications for an HMO (House in Multiple Occupation) and a further sub-divided set of flats.
The application for a new HMO on Delamere Street was strongly opposed by the committee on the grounds of how HMOs have adversely affected Crewe and the risk of negative impacts on existing residents from further high density housing. They also offer poor quality accommodation for prospective residents. The committee also referenced the Cheshire East Council Article 4 Directive for Crewe, which restricts the development of HMOs in areas of Crewe.
A separate development on Holt Street proposed the conversion of one existing dwelling into two self-contained flats and the committee expressed concern that the plans would risk overdevelopment in an already high-density residential area. This would unfavourably impact on existing residents within the local community as well as potentially provide poor accommodation standards for any future residents of the proposed flats.
The committee also objected to an application on the corner of Nile Street and Walthall Street to further sub-divide two flats into four. Again, the committee listed concerns relating to impact on existing residents and also the risk that the proposals didn’t meet national minimum housing standards, but also commented that the application didn’t clearly represent the correct address.
Crewe Town Council’s Planning Committee cannot decide on planning applications, but it does meet to look at all applications in the town and to submit any comments or observations to Cheshire East Council, which is the planning authority for the area and makes the final planning decisions.
Photo credit: Peter Robinson.
