Plans for a 68 room house of multiple occupation (HMO) at disused former Christ Church University student housing in Broadstairs have been rejected.
The application submitted in April was a downsized revision of a previous bid to gain consent for an 84-bed HMO at the Northwood Court building. That bid was rejected last year.
TDC officers raised concerns about the impact on existing residents near the Millennium Way building due to the increase in noise and disturbance from the high concentration of HMO rooms.
In April this year, the plans were resubmitted, asking for 68 bedrooms instead.
“Each unit includes its own shower room and bathroom; along with separate laundry rooms; lounges and kitchens on each floor, with additional communal facilities comprising a large lounge/tv room; workspace; gym and private kitchen/dining room,” an application for the new plans said.
It was argued the rooms would meet an “important need” in the local housing market.
Planning permission for the existing accommodation building was given in 2002, serving the CCCU Broadstairs campus until it shut in 2018.
In October 2023 permission was granted to convert the building into accommodation for 84 agricultural workers at Thanet Earth, but documents say the firm was “unable to fulfil the purchase of the property”, so the plans were never implemented.
In November 2023, plans were submitted to use the building as temporary accommodation for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, but the proposal was withdrawn in August 2024.
The application had provoked almost 200 objections.
One objector said: “I feel that there should be stronger objections to this proposed conversion. The building is right next door to a care home that houses old and fragile people that deserve peace and quiet which they would not have if this building is to go ahead. It would also have a negative effect on the two schools and the local residents. The roads are already busy so please rethink this application.”
Another added: “With two schools in close proximity traffic is at a standstill most of the day made worse by traffic regulations being ignored by both drivers and law enforcement. Infrastructure within the area is incapable of handling traffic NOW without the extra traffic and general public foot fall. The proposed residents of the proposed developments are not the type one would place in close proximity to infant, junior and senior schools.”
Now the second HMO bid by applicant Jamie Copland has been turned down by Thanet council.
Thanet council’s planning department says the site is designated for employment land and the previous grant for accommodation for Thanet Earth workers had an employment link.
A document from a planning officer says: “It is asserted that an HMO could undermine the viability the remaining businesses nearby because the application would be introducing an incompatible residential use to an employment site which could result in statutory nuisance complaints stifling the operations of businesses.”
