Scarborough Council’s planning committee has decided to defer its decision on the conversion of a care home into 10 residential properties.
At its meeting on Thursday, the council’s planning and development committee voted in favour of deferring a decision regarding the former care home.
The application proposed converting a currently vacant care home on 5 – 6 Esplanade Gardens, Scarborough, into flats.
Committee members raised various concerns regarding arrangements for rubbish disposal and collection, as well as the size and standards of the proposed accommodation.
Cllr Roberta Swiers said at the meeting that the council “shouldn’t be progressing” with plans for flats that are “well below standards.”
The plans, put forward by Trisha Heath (Sure Start Property Solutions Ltd), proposed to convert part of the former Elsinor residential care home.
However, a council report notes that one of the bedrooms “has no windows” and that a proposed lounge window is also too small.
Scarborough Council’s environmental health team added: “All habitable rooms, including bedrooms, must have natural light and ventilation. The minimum standard is a window area in excess of 10 per cent of the floor area; 50 per cent of the window area should be openable for ventilation.”
Several councillors also raised concerns regarding the lack of detail on how numerous bins would be maintained within a small alley.
Cllr Will Forbes asked whether it was possible to allocate commercial size bins instead of individual bins, suggesting that doing so would “deal with a lot of the problems there”.
However, a council officer said that a deferral might be needed to allow for discussions regarding the allocation of commercial bins.
He added that he would be “hesitant to impose that” without knowing the “ins and outs of their policies and responsibilities.”
Meanwhile, Cllr John Nock said:
“Community harmony depends on people doing the right thing and you can’t enforce that. I move, therefore, that we defer a decision pending further consultation and a site visit if that is deemed appropriate.”
Referring to the size of the proposed flats, Cllr Nock said they would make for “quite an unpleasant and uncomfortable type of environment in which to live, with small rooms and small windows.
“What happened to the ‘better homes, better lives’ concept that [the council] had?”
Cllr Roberta Swiers added her support for deferral of the decision, stating:
“We can’t promote these flats that are shocking, really.
“I certainly would not want to be in a flat that is well below standard and has very little sunlight. We shouldn’t be progressing with these things.”
The planning committee voted unanimously in favour of deferring decision-making until further consultations could take place.
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