Asylum seeker hostel plan for Dudley Road rejected
Plans to turn a Victorian house into an asylum seeker hostel have been rejected - despite councillors being told fears over Covid-19 were not good enough grounds to refuse.
Sandwell’s planning committee rejected the application to convert the home on Dudley Road, Tipton, after saying it was out of character with the area.
Attempting to defer the plans, Councillor Peter Allen argued it was not the time to open a hostel for 14 asylum seekers.
He said: “We cannot go ahead with this while we have Covid-19 . We have some of the highest rates in the country some of the time and the highest rates in the country most of the time.
“It will not be going away until September when everyone has been vaccinated so I don’t think this is the time to consider these sorts of applications.”
His comments came after local residents said the proposed 14 bedrooms were too small, there were not enough kitchens and bathrooms and the one living room couldn’t accommodate everyone living there.
Objectors claimed the ‘cramped‘ conditions could lead to the spread of Covid in an area where many elderly residents are shielding.
Councillor Allen added: “If we fill this up with asylum seekers with all these shared facilities and they have to go out into the world then we are going to bring this down on ourselves.”
But planning officers said the size of rooms and the shared facilities meet the standards required by the council.
They added rejecting the development because of coronavirus could lead to a successful appeal as it did not constitute a material consideration under planning laws.
Councillor Ian Jones, moving rejection on grounds of loss of amenity and the development was out of character with the local area, said they were.
“Legitimate reasons other than we are in a world pandemic and everyone is dropping like flies," he said.
“That can’t be a reason though it should be.”
Developer Harmohan Singh said the proposal met with all Covid regulations and complied with the council’s requirements for a house in multiple occupancy.
The application was rejected unanimously.
