Historic Saltney pub conversion plans turned down again
Proposals to turn the historic Corner Pin pub in Saltney into a HMO for up to 11 people have been rejected for a second time.
Among councillors concerns were the number of rooms and the impact of on-street parking.
But there were also concerns raised about who would move into the property – and the potential for antisocial behaviour.
The owner of the vacant 162-year-old pub, Chad Ullah, wanted to transform the interior of the building into a nine-bed House of Multiple Occupancy (HMO).
Originally rejected by planning officers due to a lack of amenity space, bin storage and cycle parking, the resubmitted application created an indoor space for bikes and bins and opened up the first floor terrace as an outdoor space for residents.
Saltney Town Cllr Barrie Gregory said he had serious concerns.
“The premises are totally unsuitable to be an HMO with nine rooms,” he said. “The rooms are rather small, with the largest being about 20 square metres or 4m x 5m. I saw no regards to fire safety, which should be a major concern as each room has a kitchen facility with associated increased fire risk for residents.
“I also saw no mention of emergency exits, fire or smoke alarms, fire doors. The only escape route for residents on the first floor would be via the stairs to the ground floor.
“The people of Saltney are entitled to know on the grounds of community, welfare and safety, as to what kind of people would be likely residents of this proposed HMO. If the answer is illegal immigrants or ex-criminal offenders, please be prepared for a wave of outrage.
“Parents in particular will be extremely concerned about the close proximity to schools and the fact many pupils pass this facility on their way to and from school. Their safety would outweigh any other consideration to do with this application.”
Local resident Paul Gibson, speaking on behalf of local residents, said that the revised proposal would create a poor living environment for tenants.
“This proposal fails to address the key reasons the previous application was refused,” he said. “The development still provides insufficient amenity space, and fails to deliver appropriate cycle parking and bin storage.
“These deficiencies would result in poor living conditions for future occupants. The application also proposes no dedicated parking provision. Local roads including High Street and Victoria Road already experience significant congestion, particularly during school drop off and pick up times due to the nearby primary school.
“A nine bed HMO will inevitably intensify parking pressure creating highway safety concerns and daily disruption for existing residents. The loss of a long-established community facility and its replacement with a high-intensity HMO risks undermining the character and cohesion of the local community.”
Saltney County Cllr Jason Shallcross added: “I have no objections to HMOs generally, I understand there’s a need for affordable accommodation.
“But if you were to put a pin in a map of Saltney to identify the centre it would be the Corner Pin building.
“It’s on the main throughfare for children making their way to the primary and high schools and at night it’s the area where the majority of antisocial behaviour takes place.”
Fellow Saltney County Cllr Richard Lloyd, who proposed refusal of the application, agreed.
“We don’t really have a town centre in Saltney but the nearest thing to it is the crossroads where the Corner Pin has a very prominent place,” he said.
“A lack of cycle parking, bin storage and clothes drying amenities were cited as the reasons for refusal last time, now they are proposed inside the building, which is highly unusual.
“The bin wagon will also find it difficult to back down the side street to collect rubbish and to exit safely onto the main road.”
“It proposes using the first floor terrace as an outdoor amenity area, despite the last application saying residents should not have access to the terrace.
“This area overlooks shoppers and schoolchildren going to Morrisons and does not meet the 80 square metre minimum space required for a HMO.
“The bedrooms at the front of the property are just feet form the main road and must have opening windows, This will allow carbon monoxide in from traffic and a noise nuisance for those residents in the property.
“There is no scheme for net biodiversity benefit proposed apart from a sparrow terrace. Planning Policy Wales states that where no biodiversity benefit is proposed significant weight is given to refuse permission.
“In the guidance note for HMOs it states if they are poorly located, they can harm the character of an area for both occupiers and neighbours. This application, if approved, would do just that.
“I believe 11 residents in a HMO of this size with no amenity space or parking, would be overcrowding of the building and a more appropriate and sympathetic application with less residents – possibly flats – would be a better option to bring the building back into use, which everybody wants.”
But Cllr Chris Bithell defended the plan, saying it would provide much-needed housing for the county.
“HMOs are not popular,” he said. “But this is the best some people can hope for and this would be very acceptable for them. As a housing authority we are now going down this route ourselves with our own properties because three-bedroom homes are no longer what many people need.
“I don’t think we can go down the line of who will occupy these properties in future, that is an area into which we should not go. In terms of a planning appeal that would be thrown out and rightly so.
“We can’t assume the people living there are a particular group of people or will be a particular problem. Anti-social behaviour has been mentioned, that can happen anywhere – it can happen in a private house, it can happen on housing estates but we can’t make that prediction that the people who live here will be somewhat ‘undesirable’.
“Parking has been mentioned but we know from previous planning appeals that inspectors have said town centre flats do not necessarily need parking spaces.
“Fire regulations are dealt with in the Community and Business Protection Housing Standard. Those particular issues are dealt with in that process separate from planning.
This is a large empty building. I’m sad to see any pub go but left alone this will begin to decay and become victim to vandalism. This would help to meet the needs of the housing waiting lists.”
Planning Officer Alison Dean said that the current application was considered acceptable.
“It’s considered a good location,” she told committee members. “There’s no specific requirement for parking to be provided on-site and fire regulations are not planning, they are a building regulations and licensing issue.
“We can’t control the type of occupants who live here just as we couldn’t in a regular housing development.”
Despite officers advice the application was refused on the grounds of insufficient amenity space, the impact of parking provision on the wider area, insufficient measures for future residents regarding the noise and pollution from the main road and waste collection difficulties.
By Alec Doyle – Local Democracy Reporter
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