Plans to convert a ‘Victorian villa’ into a ten bedroom shared house in Stalybridge have been approved despite concerns the area is ‘saturated’ with HMOs.

Tameside’s planning committee has given the green light to plans for a six bedroom, three storey house on Stamford Street to be converted into a house in multiple occupation (HMO).

However the proposals divided councillors, with concerns raised about bin storage causing a ‘hazard’ on the road. There had been 26 objections lodged against the proposals, with one letter of support.

Councillor Christine Beardmore, who represents Stalybridge North ward, addressed the meeting to speak against the application.

She said: “On Norman Road which is an adjacent street, there are already two HMOs. And they are six and seven bedrooms. This has an impact on parking and obviously bins.

“On Stamford Street there is an HMO of ten bedrooms and as councillors we have had to deal with a lot of issues around bins, fly-tipping and rats. From that point of view I think we are at saturation point at this place.

“Both streets adjacent to the property are chock-a-block with parking. I do not know where the bins are going to go in this property.”

Head of planning Melanie Hale said: “It’s a prominent location, it’s on the outskirts of the town centre. It’s in a state of disrepair and is being renovated at the moment. It’s a large building that can accommodate the number of units being proposed and there is a need in this part of the housing market.”

She said the bin storage would be within the curtilage of the site against the rear wall. “You can’t solve existing issues by the refusal of this application,”

The existing outbuilding and extension would be demolished, with a new single storey rear extension and side extension constructed as part of the plans.

There would be a shared kitchen and dining room on the ground floor.

Agent for the applicant, Mr Montgomery, Lewis Berry said the development was ‘appropriate’ due to the size of the building and its location.

“Conditions have been imposed to protect residents from noise disturbance and also hours of construction to minimise impact on local residents. Each site is different, therefore this would not set a precedent.

“Officers don’t believe it would create significant demand on the highway network that would warrant refusal.”

Panel member Coun Doreen Dickinson said: “Stalybridge town centre is just full of industrial bins. I am absolutely sick of it, I’ve fought it for years.

“We’re now getting our streets full of industrial bins from HMOs and they’re just on the pavement. Nobody puts them back, nobody does anything and it’s a hazard.

“We talk about it as if it’s a family, it’s not a family. I agree that it is over-development. What we’re doing here is setting up a problem for the future.”

Coun Adrian Pearce added: “As councillors in this area we’re having constant problems with people from parking.

“We’ve got a problem there at the moment from the masses of bins along the walkways.  What they could have done on this property is retain the existing house for six people, but no. This is about greed. The bins and waste are unmanageable.”

But Coun Vincent Ricci said: “I sympathise with the speaker and I sympathise with my colleagues. Whether I agree or disagree with the recommendation but I’m not moving that people in this house leave their bins out, I’m moving the application.

“If the people want to leave their bins out – that’s another issue. We’re not giving them permission to leave their bins out. We cannot refuse a planning application because there’s bins there.”

Ms Hale added: “What we can’t do is make somebody put a bin out and bring it back in. That’s not the job of the planning system.”