Plans for private tutors were rejected over fears they would add to Bearwood’s traffic problems

A plan to turn a home into a private tuition center has been rejected by the council. Sandwell Council has rejected a planning application by BMH Tutors to turn a Victorian house in St Mary’s Road, Bearwood, into a “private tuition academy” for up to 20 children studying for GCSEs and A-Levels.

Council planners said the proposed conversion did not include enough parking and would add to existing traffic problems in Bearwood. “The proposals will significantly increase the number of vehicles associated with the property,” council planners said in a report outlining the decision.

“It will be difficult for the applicant to control pick-ups/pick-ups and over time, as student intake changes, the modes of transport used by parents may change, and the number of students arriving in family groups arriving in a car could be bigger. I don’t think there is an existing capacity on the street due to residential properties that have no off street parking provision, an existing church, nursery and dental practice. No evidence was given in relation to the parking surveys.”

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The house, opposite St Mary’s Church, just off busy Bearwood High Street, would have stood next to Bearwood Dental Care and Play House Day Nursery. BMH Tutors already runs an academy in upscale Handsworth Wood. A statement included in the application said the proposed conversion would not be “noise generating” and would be comparable to a “small school library”.

“There is no need for parking for our students, so no parking spaces will be occupied,” the statement said. “Given the good transport links, there will be minimal use of cars for transport. A decision was set to be made by the council’s planning committee, rather than officers, following an appeal by ward councilor Bob Piper, who had concerns about the proposed level of parking.

“6 St Mary’s Road is a stretch of road near Bearwood’s main shopping center which already has a very high daytime demand for shop parking, as well as having a nursery and dental surgery on the same stretch of road. ” he said in an application to Sandwell Council’s planning department. “This causes constant problems with traffic and illegal parking.”

A plan to turn the two-and-a-half-storey Victorian house into a place of worship “for up to 20 people” was rejected by Sandwell Council in 2010. An appeal to the government’s planning inspector in a bid to get the decision was cancelled, was also refused. The council said the extra noise and the “comings and goings” of worshipers meant the plans could not be sustained.

The ground floor of the “home” in St Mary’s Road was converted into a large prayer hall in the late 2000s, despite claims that the building was only used as housing, with the council saying it was only notified that the work had taken place after May many complaints from neighbors.

It was claimed the house in St Mary’s Road was only used for “quiet meditation and prayer”, but neighbors said they were disturbed by “singing and bell ringing” from more than 20 people who were claimed to be at capacity. The “loud” songs also disturbed the children from the adjacent kindergarten during their sleep.