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'Dread' as plans for 63‑bed HMO get go‑ahead

Robert Boddy,Local Democracy Reporting Serviceand
Sofia Akin,South East
News imageGoogle Maps A four-storey accommodation block on a street in day time. There is a bus in the distance approaching a zebra crossing and a parked car to the right of the building.Google Maps
An application to repurpose a student block in Gillingham has been approved

Residents say they are filled with "dread" after plans to convert a student block into a 63-bed house of multiple occupation (HMO) were approved.

JG Student Lets was given the green light to repurpose the property on Jeffery Street, Gillingham, by Medway Council on 27 April.

Gillingham and Rainham MP, Naushabah Khan, wrote to chief planning officer Dave Harris saying the application should have been considered by councillors.

Andrew Lynch, who has lived in the street directly across from the newly approved HMO for over 40 years said it will "lead to even more problems".

Lynch said: "It's going to do nothing to enhance the area whatsoever, quite the opposite."

He said parking was "already a huge, huge problem", adding: "You buy a car permit, but that doesn't guarantee you somewhere to park."

Khan wrote to the planning officer saying the approval was inconsistent with efforts to regenerate Gillingham, reports the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"This does not fit in," she said, adding it was "disappointing that vision is not being considered or recognised when planning applications for the town centre are being presented to Medway Council".

News imageLocal Democracy Reporting Service Shows a woman with dark hair, wearing a red coat smiling at the camera. In the distance are some shops and benches, and a tall tree.Local Democracy Reporting Service
Naushabah Khan asked why the application had "bypassed" a committee and was not voted on by councillors

The MP has previously raised concerns around the number of HMOs in the Medway Towns and successfully lobbied the authority to introduce an article 4 direction in the areas with the highest concentration.

The direction, introduced in January, means homes converting into HMOs for fewer than six people must also apply for planning permission.

The authority's cabinet pushed ahead with the Article 4 direction and said it would keep track of the impact and could consider expanding the measure beyond the seven wards.

JG Students Lets successfully argued that the fall in the number of university students living in private accommodation meant the building needed to be repurposed.

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