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Merthyr Tydfil Politics South Wales

Controversial Merthyr Vale HMO plans deferred after strong opposition

Mount Pleasant Hotel In Cardiff Road, Merthyr Vale (Pic: Google Maps)

CONTROVERSIAL plans to turn a former Valleys B&B into a house in multiple occupation (HMO), which have been opposed by more than 1,000 people, have not been approved by councillors and will come back before the planning committee at their next meeting.

The application from D2 PropCo Ltd for the Mount Pleasant Hotel in Cardiff Road, Merthyr Vale went before Merthyr Tydfil Council’s planning committee on Wednesday, September 11, and has seen a petition with 1,275 signatures and 91 letters of objection submitted against it.

At committee meeting, councillors voted against the officer recommendation to approve the development so it will now come back at the next meeting in October.

At a previous meeting in June, it was decided to defer a decision for a site visit.

The building used to be a bed and breakfast but this use stopped several years ago and it is used as a large residential property.

Those opposing the HMO element of the proposal claimed it would make it “unsafe” for young children, as well as the elderly and other vulnerable individuals. They also said it would result in an “overconcentration” of HMOs and be “detrimental” to the character of the area.

There was also concern about the potential for increased anti-social behaviour, noise and disturbance, which would impact neighbours.

They said the site has little parking and the surrounding streets has insufficient parking for existing residents, resulting in congestion and pavement parking causing issues for disabled and elderly people.

They said allowing another HMO would exacerbate these issues and impede emergency services from passing through when required and increase the likelihood of accidents happening due to vehicles parking on both sides of the road.

They also raised concern about the windows overlooking other properties and that occupants of other HMO in Merthyr have caused significant trouble.

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Objectors say the community would like to keep the building as an amenity/facility, such as a public house, recreational centre for children or a community centre, since all other amenities have been taken away.

But planning officers had recommended to the committee that it be approved.

The planning report says the property is used as a residential property and has not operated as a B&B for several years due to a decline in visitors to the area.

It said the property has been marketed for a period of over six months in an attempt to find a buyer for the business and this has been unsuccessful.

The planning report said it is appreciated that properties occupied by non-family households have the potential to change the character of an area but it  cannot be argued the proposed HMO would lead to an over-concentration, adding the council’s records do not show any others in close proximity.

It also said the former use of the property as a B&B would have had a number of visitors coming and going, so the proposal would not likely result in significant harm which would justify the refusal of the application on this basis.

In terms of anti-social behaviour, the report said the responsibility for dealing with such issues would be shared between the police, local authorities and the landlord/manager.

In terms of parking and highway safety, the report said the property would be served by three existing on-site parking spaces and the access arrangements would remain unchanged.

It also said while the number of bedrooms at the property will increase, and there would be an under provision of parking to serve the proposed use, the requirement for parking under the proposed use would not be any worse than the current use.

It also mentioned that HMOs generally have low parking demands since there is generally low car ownership amongst its residents and that the property is located within 100 metres of a bus stop and is therefore near a sustainable travel route.

The report said: “Whilst Cardiff Road only allows for parking provision along one side of the street and is known to be generally congested by parked cars belonging to other residents, as raised in the objections received, additional unrestricted on-street parking can be provided further along Cardiff Road and within the side streets, such as South View.”

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