Cllr. Alistair McNair & Cllr Anne Meadows

BH2024/01772 - 65 Ladies Mile Road

15^th August 2024:

Please accept this letter as an objection to the above planning application. There are four main reasons for objecting to this application: change in character of neighbourhood; overcrowding; loss of parking; setting a dangerous precedent.

Firstly, this property is in an area of mainly semi-detached, low density family homes occupied by 2 to 4 people. It is not an area of HMOs. The house currently has 6 double bedrooms and one single. The plans suggest this property will be converted into 7 bedrooms housing up to 9 people although it could house 11 because of the large size of rooms; there are very likely to be numerous visitors as well.

The current property owner uses their home to house students, so it can be assumed that this HMO will be for unsupervised students. Students can have irregular hours compared to neighbouring families, either because of late night part-time jobs or because of active social lives. According to the supporting letter, 'The physical nature of the street, with good distances to neighbours reduces any potential for disturbance caused to existing residents.' In our experience of HMOs in Patcham & Hollingbury, there are likely to be significantly increased noise levels which would be heard by residents, especially the adjoining property no. 67, at all times of the day and night. How would this be monitored or controlled? No. 67 has already had serious issues with noise from no.65.

No parking provision has been provided. According to the supporting letter, 'on-street parking is available outside the site' (p.9). Where? Current residents have difficulty parking without having a further potential nine vehicles to contend with. As can be seen in fig.1 below, Ladies Mile Road already has significant pressures with regards parking, and as this house is located very close to Patcham High and Junior Schools, parking is particularly difficult, and the increased traffic would make this school area less safe. Where would resident and visitor vehicles go?

Fig.1: shortage of parking

There will also be significantly increased rubbish and recycling to be collected. The service is not regular enough to ensure rubbish will not spill out onto the streets when collections are missed.

A further worry is that once an HMO has been established at this residence, there is no guarantee it would remain a student residence. It could be used to house anyone, and potentially create significant social problems for this neighbourhood.

We believe that this conversion would set a dangerous precedent, and approving this HMO would give the greenlight to further HMOs as has happened elsewhere in the city, potentially changing the character of Patcham Old Village permanently. Patcham & Hollingbury is a quiet, family-oriented location. While there are amenities, such as a local pub, takeaways and restaurants, the location does not provide the density of attractions student homes are usually sited near, such as Moulsecoomb or London Road. Patcham, although connected to the centre of town by the 5 and 5A bus, is far from the centre of town, and not on any direct route to the universities, which would possibly encourage students to bring their cars. It would also be far from any language schools.

We are of the opinion that the proposal would be contrary to Brighton and Hove City Plan Part One Policies CP12 (Urban Design) and CP14 (Housing Density), and policy QD 27 (Protection of Amenity) of Brighton and Hove Local Plan.

Should the Local Planning Authority consider granting this application, we request that it is brought to Planning Committee for determination where we reserve our right to speak to our letter and the application.