Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council’s planners are currently considering an application seeking permission to change a Portadown home into a house of multiple occupancy.
Lodged by agent JWM planning, on behalf of applicant Gareth Hughes, permission is sought to change the categorisation of 20 Cecil Street from a dwelling to a five-bedroom house of multiple occupancy.
The application form notes this is a change of use application and explains it will make use of an existing unaltered access to a public road for pedestrians and that no new access to the development will be created.
Currently a vacant property, water will be supplied to the premises via the mains system. Surface water and foul sewage will also be disposed of via the mains.
As a house of multiple of occupancy, no extra visitors or staff will frequent the property on a daily basis. The proposal will require three 360 litre bins – one for general waste, one for recycling and one for food/biodegradable waste.
To ensure the bins do not accumulate on the street, an area for the bins is accessed off the rear yard of the proposed site. On bin collection day, tenants will be required to place the correct bin on the street for collection and once emptied, returned to the dedicated area in the rear yard.
Tenants will be expected to keep the property clean so as to ensure that vermin are not attracted to the site and this, it is stated, will be inspected by the property owner on a regular basis.
Correspondence from NI Water says it is of the view the application should be refused. However, subject to the applicant engaging with the statutory body, “NI Water may reconsider its recommendation”.
Lodged and validated on Wednesday, May 17, the application’s neighbour consultation period will expire on Tuesday, June 6 and its standard consultation period will expire on Monday, June 12. The application will be advertised until Friday, June 16.
