A public meeting has been called about an application to merge five flats into one house in the centre of Long Sutton.
The Parish Council claims the plans for 31 High Street are creating a House of Multiple Occupation (HMO) ‘by stealth’ and that the town is ‘becoming a hot spot’ for them.
HMOs are a single property where three or more people who are not related to one another live.
The ‘new’ home with four bedrooms would replace the five flats and business area.
A statement by Long Sutton Parish Council says: “The council feel that it is in the best interest of the community and local people that the five existing flats should remain and be upgraded to the standard of the proposed four bedroom dwelling to provide accommodation for local people.
“It is not convinced that the location of the building is for a family four-bedroom house, which is what is implied in the application, but a plan to turn the building into a HMO bypassing HMO status.”
The council does not say why it believes this property will be turned into a HMO.
It does say: “There are already HMOs in the town centre and a similar conversion has been recently carried out which fell short of the definition of a HMO, but seems to be one in all but name.
“It is unfair that the heart of Long Sutton is becoming a hot spot for such applications.
“It is a Georgian town and the centre is a conservation area with several listed buildings.
“Residents are fed up about their town being changed by stealth and wish to give their voice to oppose the continued decline and changes to their town by private landlord, developers and South Holland District Council.”
The public meeting it has called is at the parish council offices at 7pm on Wednesday, August 27.
Documents submitted to the district council which will decide on the application state that the development would need ‘minimal works and no external changes’.
The application by a Mr R Green from Isleham in Cambridge continues: “The development proposes to consolidate five flats into one dwelling and losses (sic) redundant commercial space with unrestricted use and house to the benefit of residential amenity.”
It also looks to justify the loss of the commercial space by stating that there’s currently three such vacant properties Long Sutton town centre.
