Council slammed plans to create HMO in public cemetery – Inside Croydon

Residents in Beddington are up in arms over “insensitive” council plans to turn a former caretaker’s cottage from a graveyard into an HMO – a house in multiple occupation – without consulting local residents.

Haunted House: Lodge at Bandon Hill Cemetery LibDems and Tories want to turn into homes for three immigrant families

Bandon Hill Cemetery, on Plow Lane, Beddington, is jointly managed by Croydon and Sutton councils.

Just inside the main entrance to the cemetery is The Lodge, a 124-year-old house owned by Sutton Council, which until recently acted as the residence of the ‘oversold’ or caretaker. Guardians of the property currently occupy the house.

The lodge is only a few meters from some war graves and is passed by the vast majority of visitors to the cemetery, whether attending a funeral or visiting a resting place.

Through the Bandon Hill Cemetery Joint Committee, comprising councilors from both councils, it was proposed to turn the Lodge into an HMO and fence it off from the rest of the cemetery.

This proposal, put forward by Sutton Council’s children’s services, would see the house refurbished to accommodate three families, people who have not resorted to public funding and whose immigration status remains uncertain or undecided.

The matter was supposed to come before the committee on June 10, but the meeting was canceled on the somewhat spurious grounds of electoral purdah. In previous election years, this committee had continued to meet during purdah periods because its deliberations were not considered to be politically controversial.

The committee includes Croydon Tories Scott Roche (who worked in the office of former Sutton and Cheam MP Paul Scully) and Mark Johnson, and Sutton LibDems Ed Joyce, Sam Martin and ‘Calamity’ Jayne McCoy. There the cemetery is in a ward represented by three independent councillors, but none have been appointed to this committee.

Nick Mattey, one of Beddington’s councillors, opposes the development. “The intent here is entirely laudable, but the reality is that HMOs are not appropriate for a cemetery,” Mattey said. Inside Sutton.

“My main reason is that the cemetery is a place of peace, where people are buried and mourners will visit the graves of their loved ones. With three families living at The Lodge, just meters away from the graves and next to the main entrance, the calm atmosphere of the cemetery could be disturbed.

“In my view, there is no realistic planning condition or provision that could prevent normal family noise.”

Mattey is also concerned that families living in The Lodge would be confined, which would not be conducive to a normal life, especially for vulnerable families whose lives were already stressful.

Campaign: Beddington councilor Nick Mattey outlined the council’s plans to convert the Lodge

“Sutton’s total failure to consult with local residents on this matter is just typical of how Sutton does things,” Mattey said. He also points out that any decision taken by the committee to progress the proposals will mean a planning application is required. This could create some conflicts of interest as two of the committee’s LibDem councillors, McCoy and Joyce, are also members of Sutton’s planning committee, leaving them open to accusations of bias.

The cemetery committee will not meet again until November.

Mattey is surprised that Sutton Council chose to cancel the June meeting when the proposals were due to be discussed and has once again embarrassed Sutton’s LibDem administration with its secretive work – just as it has done before for a decade when he opposed Viridor. the Beddington incinerator, helping to reveal unresolved dealings around planning issues and the £1bn 25-year contract.

“They’re just holding the administration accountable,” Mattey said, “but the way they’re going, you’d think it was the Kray twins. I’m just a 71-year-old pensioner looking after the residents of Beddington.”

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