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A mechanic’s bid to convert his home garage into an MOT test station looks set to be rejected over concerns it would cause too much disturbance to neighbours.
Gurmit Singh has requested permission to use the garage at his house on Park Drive, in Lea, for commercial use and the application is due to go before the city’s planning committee on January 9.
However, his application faces opposition from Lea and Cottam Parish Council, a city councillor and a further 22 neighbours. Among the issues raised are traffic, noise and pollution, with several references to these being greater risks due to the close proximity to Lea Community Primary School.
In its objection, the parish council said: “Even outside of school opening and closing hours evidence shows that there is still significant on road parking on what are narrow streets, never built to take the levels of vehicular movements that are seen today. Further increases will make this worse both to the detriment of road safety and neighbour amenity.”
A planning officer’s report prepared for the meeting notes that while some have claimed the garage has already been used for commercial purposes “no evidence has been provided to support this allegation”.
The report concludes the application should be considered unacceptable on the basis it “would lead to over intensification of the use of the site” with increased noise and disturbance causing “a harmful impact on the amenity of nearby residential properties”.
It states: “The proposal would see the establishment of a general industrial use within the existing residential area which would be at odds with the character of the existing residential street and would lead to an over-intensification of the use of the site which would cause an unacceptable level of harm to the amenity of neighbouring residents in terms of increased noise and disturbance.
“In addition, County Highways advise that insufficient information has been submitted to be able to determine the impact that the proposed development would have on highway safety and parking.”
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