Concerns shared house could mean 15 more cars parking on busy Derbyshire road

A shared house with nine bedrooms and no parking could mean up to 15 more cars on an already busy town centre road.

Members of North East Derbyshire District Council’s Planning Committee found themselves in a bureaucratic no man’s land when deciding whether to allow the change of use from a shop, in Sheffield Road, Killamarsh, to a house of multiple occupancy (HMO), as a lack of parking guidance led officers to recommend the application for approval.

Councillor Mark Foster, who also represents Killamarsh at Derbyshire County Council, raised concerns over the lack of parking at the property, which could have up to 15 occupants if approved.

Addressing planning officers, he questioned: “There’s up to 15 possible cars there.

“How many people would you have to have in a property with no parking and still let it go through? Would it be 25? Would it be 30?”

Coun Foster commented that he was aware district council policy addressed the impact on highway safety, adding: “But there’s also the residents there.

“The parish council there aren’t just talking about that, they’re talking about the impact on parking and how it affects other people being allowed to park outside their house.”

Senior planning officer Alice Lockett explained: “Since the adoption of the new plan we don’t have parking guidance

“There was parking guidance in the old plan, there isn’t parking guidance in the new plan and the county council don’t currently have guidance on HMOs so that’s where we are.”

She added that officers had initially recommended the property have at least three parking spaces, however the highways authority was not ‘prepared to back up our views on parking’.

Mrs Lockett continued: “When I discussed this with the highways officer, we’ve had quite a lot of toing and froing about the parking, and they came down on one side saying that they wouldn’t back the refusal based on parking, so that’s why we’ve come to the conclusion that we’ve come to.”

The property is viewed as being in a sustainable location in terms of access to public transport and town centre amenities.

Applicant Karmjit Singh had initially wanted to include parking at the rear of the house, however the highways authority felt the access was too narrow.

Councillor Roger Hall raised concerns that the property only had three shower rooms between nine bedrooms, however Mrs Lockett said the application met the minimum requirements for national space standards, and exceeded them for some of the room sizes.

Members voted unanimously to defer the decision for clarification of policy with regards to HMO parking, fire regulations and the preparation of a travel plan, outlining measures to promote sustainable travel choices for future residents.