HMO approved despite emergency access fears in narrow street

A HMO conversion in a narrow Elliots Town street can go ahead despite concerns about emergency vehicle access, Caerphilly councillors have decided.

A local councillor warned tragedy could strike on Jubilee Road if ambulances or fire vehicles became stuck.

D2 Dropco has applied for planning permission to redevelop a mid-terrace property in the street into temporary accommodation.

It has proposed converting the four-bedroom home, at 48 Jubilee Road, into a HMO (house in multiple occupation) by partitioning a ground-floor living room to create an extra bedroom.

HMOs are typically properties for single, unrelated adults who have their own bedrooms but share other communal facilities, such as bathrooms and kitchens.

Carwyn Powell, a senior planning officer at Caerphilly County Borough Council, told its planning committee “it’s acknowledged Jubilee Road is very compact” and there are parking difficulties.

New Tredegar ward councillor Eluned Stenner, speaking in objection to the application, said residents “recognise the need for housing” but believed the street is “not a suitable location”.

She said the narrow width of Jubilee Road meant it sometimes takes up to 20 minutes to drive its length, and it could be “quicker and easier” to walk.

There were past instances when patients were “carried to ambulances” because paramedics couldn’t reach callouts, the committee heard.

Cllr Stenner also said firefighters had struggled to access a house fire in Jubilee Road in the 1990s, in which three children died.

“Residents are worried… the fire service could be hindered by double-parked cars” during any future emergencies, she warned.

Mr Powell accepted there were local concerns but said the proposed redevelopment effectively meant one extra resident in Jubilee Road, given the house already has four bedrooms.

He told the meeting the application complied with the council’s own planning guidance, and the street would be “nowhere near” breaching a 10% threshold on concentrations of HMOs in an area, if the conversion was approved.

Planning agent James Driscoll, speaking on behalf of the applicant, said the property would serve as temporary accommodation for adults within the county borough.

He said D2 Propco has a large network of units in South Wales and manages those properties “diligently”, conducting daily visits and taking “immediate action” if problems arise.

The HMO will include CCTV and the council’s own housing team will decide who to place there, Mr Driscoll said, adding the applicant sought an “open and approachable relationship” with neighbours, who will be given contact details for a “24/7 on-call system”.

The committee members voted in favour of the officers’ recommendation to grant planning permission, subject to conditions.