Plans for a Nottinghamshire chippy to be converted into flats were rejected amid concerns the area was being 'swamped' by students. A proposal for the Humber Road Chippy in Beeston to be turned into a seven-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO) was rejected by Broxtowe Borough Council's planning committee on Wednesday, March 8, despite planning officers recommending approval.
A planning officer found the external aspects would not be out of character for the busy area, and that the scheme would add to the mix of housing locally. But Lynda Lally, ward councillor for Beeston Central, spoke of her discontent over the plans at the meeting, citing the number of HMOs in her area already.
"It makes me very sad again to be here tonight. Humber Road chippy [has been] well known to me for many, many years, even as a girl. When Beeston becomes like Lenton and Dunkirk, where are we going to go because this is just getting out of control?" she said.
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The councillor disagreed with the argument that the plan would add to the housing mix of the area, adding: "I absolutely, totally disagree because there is not a mix of housing. I know that I say this a lot but if you were to go down Fletcher Road there are many HMOs, there are many HMOs on Humber Road itself, and permission has just been given for 84 bedrooms at the top of this street and there are others still pending.
"I just don't understand anymore where we are going with this - we fought really hard for Article 4, unfortunately it hasn't delivered what we needed. I would like to see it remain a business and [have] a family living there and we really do not need anymore HMOs."
Broxtowe Borough Council's Article 4 Direction came into force in 2022 and means that planning permission is needed to change the use of a house to a HMO with three to six residents in parts of Beeston. Committee members Councillor Richard Jackson and Councillor Philip Owen agreed the current Article 4 direction was not fit for purpose, and called for further changes to limit the creation of HMOs in the area.
Mr Owen added: "We've got to support our residents and say no to this, it is a loss of an important facility. I do not see why we should be swamped and taken over by students, it is not good and I strongly object to it."
The plans were unanimously rejected by the members of the planning committee. However, it was discussed in the meeting that this decision would be difficult to defend should the applicant appeal and take the plan to the Planning Inspectorate, as planning officers had recommended the project when accessing it against planning policy.
Jack Nijjar, manager of Humber Road Chippy, previously said the proposal had been a backup plan devised as energy and goods prices rose sharply during 2022, and that the future of the chippy was not yet certain. "Nothing is concrete, this submission was made because of all the soaring prices. There's no closing date whatsoever, it could all change," he said.
Mr Nijjar, added: "If the business gets a little bit better because of gas and electricity prices easing up it is possible that the business might stay and the upstairs might be converted, you never know. If anything is decided, people will be made aware well in advance, but at this moment there are no definite plans, it is more of a contingency."
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