Neighbours worry over plans to turn house into student accommodation (From York Press)

Neighbours worry over plans to turn house into student accommodation

8:15am Wednesday 6th March 2013 in News By Mike Laycock, Chief reporter

LOCAL residents and parish councillors have slammed plans to turn a York surburban semi-detached house into a home for six students.

They claim that with six students already living in the other side of the semi-detached property in Wensleydale Drive, Osbaldwick, there will be a total of 12 living in the quiet cul-de-sac, raising concerns about issues such as parking, access and noise.

But officers are urging City of York Council’s east area planning committee, which meets tomorrow, to approve the application by Heather Richardson.

In a report, officials say the dwelling is considered a sufficient size to accommodate six unrelated individuals, and also say the number of HMOs (house in multiple occupation) in the area is within the threshold set under “article 4” rules, under which the authority can turn such schemes down.

However, they say that in order to safeguard the house’s visual appearance and adjacent residents’ amenity, there should be a management plan controlled by planning conditions, to assist with issues such as garden maintenance, refuse and recycling collections, and property maintenance.

The parish council said in a submission to York council that it maintained a long- standing objection to any further loss of family homes to the student-let market.

It said the location of this scheme and a lack of parking provision would inevitably lead to on-street parking and conflict with neighbours’ access to property, and the proposed internal layout of the property represented a gross overdevelopment, creating a substandard level of accommodation.

The report said four letters of objection had been received from local residents. One resident said the number of student properties in the area had increased steadily over the years, resulting in the loss of a balanced community.

The resident claimed: “Students are not long-term members of the community and the balance is now tipping in the wrong direction. The large amount of student housing removes family properties from the market and deters families from moving into the area.

“This causes the mix of the community to change resulting in closures of essential facilities and services, such as the pending closure of Burnholme Community College.”