Victory for Sutton Residents as The Old Blue Bell HMO Planning Application Refused.

This morning there was a planning committee meeting at Ashfield District Council where the application for the increase in the number of residents at the HMO at the Old Blue Bell at the bottom of Carsic Lane was discussed.

The Old Blue Bell in Sutton in Ashfield

After a hard fought campaign led by Reform UK Carsic Councillor Cathy Mason, this planning application has now been refused.

Cllr Cathy Mason said:

"Residents are tired. They are tired of seeing more and more large HMOs approved, tired of feeling unsafe in their own streets, and tired of being told that what they are experiencing isn’t real. Over the last few years, multiple HMOs have been granted in this area, and people now feel the town centre has become overcrowded, unsettled and intimidating, especially in the evenings."

"Using money secured by Ashfield's MP Lee Anderson, we have recently invested public money into refurbishing Sutton town centre to bring life back into it. But regeneration does not work if people don’t feel safe. Shops do not thrive, families do not visit, and businesses do not stay open when residents feel that antisocial behaviour is becoming normalised. Until that fear is addressed, the investment will not deliver what it was meant to."

"This proposal would have doubled the number of people living in one building, with no extra space, no extra facilities, and no reassurance to the surrounding community. People are worried about constant noise, disturbance, and a further decline in the character of the area. Those fears come from lived experience, not prejudice."

"Residents are not asking us to ignore housing need. They are asking us to stop making decisions that add to the pressure and distress they already feel. This proposal would have pushed an already stretched area even further and deepen the sense that the town centre is no longer for ordinary people."

"For those reasons, I am pleased that this application has been refused."