HMO plan scaled back

A plan to turn a converted pub into an HMO has been scaled back after complaints about parking.

The original application by Kerry Harris would have seen the former Berwick Arms pub on the corner of Bath Road and Stanley Street turn from a five-bed house into an eight-bed house of multiple occupation (HMO).

The move would now see the Bath Road home become a three-bed HMO after the application was revised earlier this month after a number of complaints from neighbours about parking.

Worcestershire County Council’s highways department had also called for the plan to be turned down because it did not provide enough parking to serve the people living in the potential new HMO.

The current home has two parking spaces and no extra room would have been provided under the eight-bed HMO proposals – despite highways officers saying the new HMO plan would need at least four to meet standards.

The Berwick Arms closed in early 2011 and stayed empty until plans by developer Peter Styles to turn the former watering hole into a four-bed house were backed by the city council two years later.

The plans for an eight-bed HMO attracted a number of objections from neighbours who said two parking spaces were nowhere near enough for the number of people that could be living there.

One resident in Bath Road said parking was already a problem with many choosing to leave cars across double yellow lines.

“I cannot support this application due to the parking constraints in the area and the issues we already face just trying to get on and off our drive which is opposite the property,” he said in the objection to Worcester City Council.

“Multiple car spaces would be needed where there is no space and even if let without a space – I would strongly feel that people would park on the double yellows on Stanley Street which is what I have already experienced in the past two years of living here with just one family living in that property.”

The new plans can be viewed by visiting Worcester City Council’s website.

The application number is 22/01053/FUL and consultation ends on August 3.