Residents try to block bid to create 31 bedsits in former religious retreat in Preston

The Lancashire Post understands at least 58 people have registered their opposition to the proposed redevelopment of the Xaverian Mission Spirituality Centre on Sharoe Green Lane in Fulwood.

If approved, the one-time farm buildings - home to a small group of priests for the past 26 years - would be converted into a 31-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO).

Residents have raised a raft of concerns - seen by the Post - about the potential impact of the plans on those living nearby, relating to issues including traffic, noise and the capacity of the drains to cope with such a significant influx of new residents.

It has also been claimed that the character of the area would be altered by the development - with bedists being described as out-of-keeping with the “bungalows, semi-detached and detached houses [and] private apartments” which currently dominate the leafy neighbourhood.

One comment sent to Preston City Council planners reads: “[The site] has always been a quiet place with few occupants, [first] being a farm and then a place of retreat housing nuns and then priests. To become accommodation for 31 bedsits would create an extremely noisy area with vehicles and music to be heard at all hours.”

As the Post has previously revealed, the Shire Bank Farm site was vacated in July by the Roman Catholic Xaverian Missionary priests who had occupied it since 1998.

A consultation response already submitted by Lancashire County Council - in its capacity as the highways authority - reveals that it has no road-related concerns over the plans.

The 29 parking spaces currently on site are to be increased to 31 - one for each bedsit - while space for six bicycles and two motorbikes would also be created.

County Hall acknowledges that the change will result in “an increase in vehicle movements”, but concludes that these are “not expected to have a severe impact on the local highway network”.

However, Sharoe Green ward councillors are unconvinced. Connor Dwyer told the Post he was “unequivocally oppose[d] to the conversion”.

“The site is not suitable at all - and will have a severe impact on highways and parking, which are already serious issues for Sharoe Green.

“Furthermore, I am not convinced that the plans offer sufficient amenities for over 30 residents and their guests. I urge planning officers to take seriously residents’ objections and consider the viability of such a large HMO in this area,” Cllr Dwyer added.

Cllr Maxwell Green also weighed in over the potential traffic impact of the proposal.

“We've got St Clare's Primary School a stone’s throw away, there’s Preston College and also two high schools.

“[The bedsits] would mean a lot more vehicles and it's basically [located] right upon a mini-roundabout. which is already a busy junction as it is - you can be sat there for ages, “ Cllr Green said.

He also questioned where visitors to the future bedsit occupants would park in an area where space is already at a premium because of its proximity to the Royal Preston Hospital.

The third Sharoe Green ward councillor, George Kulbacki, was away when the Post attempted to contact him for comment.

A decision on the application will be made by town hall planning officers, because no councillors sought to ‘call in’ the application so that the cross-party planning committee would have the final say. That means the public’s involvement in the process will start and end with the objections already submitted, as there will be no public meeting for them to address the decision-makers.

PLANS ‘WILL PUT SITE TO GOOD USE’

The firm behind the HMO plans, Sapphire Properties Investment Limited, said in its application that it intended to create a “spacious and ambient HMO facility”.

A planning statement lodged with the city council reveals that the 31 rooms would be for “single occupancy”, while most of them would have their own en-suite facility.

“Regard has been paid in the building’s design to orientation and the impact from overlooking to existing nearby occupiers,” it adds.

No extensions would be required to develop the HMO, although some “minor external alterations” would be necessary to reconfigure the layout. However, the appearance of the site would remain “mostly as it is now”.

The planning statement concludes that the proposal “meets the aims of national and local planning policy [by] reusing an existing,. previously developed urban piece of land, which is currently underused - and these proposals will bring the site back into beneficial use”.

“The site is in a highly sustainable location…thereby encouraging the occupiers to use other means of transport [than car] by walking or using the available buses …to use the local facilities."