00:00More than 70 residents living on this road in Stroud have objected to one house's conversion
00:05into a six-bedroom HMO, or House of Multiple Occupancy.
00:09They sent a letter to Medway Council signed by 75 people living on or near Prospect Avenue
00:14and came out to show their disapproval.
00:17Now, this specific HMO does have a planning application which has already been approved.
00:22But the locals here on Prospect Avenue are hoping that they'll be able to get Medway
00:26to reverse their decision, as they say it's just too much.
00:30If that's full, and that one's full, and that one's full, and that one, which I believe is five full,
00:36that's just a ridiculous amount.
00:38And then what will happen is the families will move out, and it will destroy this road.
00:44It does not make sense.
00:46There's enough congestion already.
00:47If you look around you, there are cars everywhere.
00:50And I can tell you for a fact that even some people who've got cars are not here at the moment.
00:55If you come back home around night time, it's a nightmare to park.
00:58In the letter, the residents added that Prospect Avenue is a family-oriented community
01:02that contributes to the residential character of Strood,
01:05and that HMOs could destroy the balance.
01:08Well, she's going to be starting nursery in January, but on the way through, stuff like that,
01:14especially the way it is as well, fair enough, it's around the corner,
01:17but it's just trying to find if we're going to leave in the morning,
01:20leave in enough time to, one, miss the traffic, two.
01:23Can't get further down the road because the space is already parked up because of the HMOs.
01:26Especially where we're taking her to her nursery, there is a few HMO houses there.
01:30How we're meant to safely park up and drop our kids off to the schools, to the nurseries.
01:37Now this week, Medway Council are going to be considering Article 4,
01:41which could mean that anyone who wants to convert a property into an HMO will need planning permission.
01:45Now this isn't a certainty, it's only going to be considered at this council meeting,
01:50but what would the impact of it be?
01:51So this new directive, this Article 4 directive coming in here,
01:55is a legal planning tool that we're wanting to introduce for next week.
02:00And any HMOs where the Article 4 applies in the seven wards where we're introducing it
02:05means that they'll have to apply for planning permission in those wards for anything less than six people.
02:10Locals will hope they can reach an agreement with either the landowners or the council,
02:14as they worry that more HMOs could hurt their street or their community.
02:18Finn McDermid for CAME TV in Stroud.
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