Dear Councillor,
Planning Application to create another student block (PBSA), at 3 Wise Terrace
This is written from the head and the heart of a long time resident of South Leamington. I’ve lived through the decimation of a lovely mixed and balanced community and its replacement by the ‘South Leamington campus’ of Warwick University.
I’m shocked by the standard, the failed ‘logic’ and the fatalism of the officer report recommending this application. It's absolutely clear that the application is against the Local Plan. It's way over the 10% HMO rule. It's not on a main thoroughfare. It's not in a mixed-use area.
Literally the only reason given for approval is that the outcome of two previous appeals allegedly point this way. The officer report claims that the circumstances are the same. Apparently you’re just meant to take the officer’s word for it, because nothing from those appeals is quoted or referenced. You’re not even given a link to give you a chance to read them.
In fact, the circumstances are NOT the same. Not in law and not in life.
One appeal (2018) relies totally on WDC policies that have been 100% dumped. If you ask the officers, they’ll have no option but to confirm this is the case.
It said Wise Street was "really" a main thoroughfare. Wise Terrace is a backstreet. It couldn't be less a main thoroughfare! It is only a "main thoroughfare" if you are determined to call it one - not if you use common sense, not if you use all the facts (instead of just selected ones). Policy H6 was not written to turn half the backstreets in South Leamington into potential sites for PBSA’s.
The other appeal (2019) looks very different back on earth! It wilfully twists the words in the H6 "explanatory text" to declare (i) HMOs are not residential(!); (ii) areas with lots of HMOs are mixed-use (non-residential); and (iii) there is no limit to how many HMOs you can have in a mixed-use area.
In other words, it attempts to totally re-write H6 and its intentions. If this was what H6 intended, it would have said so. But it isn't and it didn’t.
I have read the 2019 appeal decision over and over again, and I can't make any sense of it. If they’re asked, can WDC officers actually explain it? Can they put hand on heart and say they agree with it?
So, you really don’t need to make a decision purely based on fear of an appeal, which is what the officer report is trying to get you to do.
Your decision – in principle and in practice - should be based on upholding our Local Plan.
