'We're all united against this' - Smethwick headteacher speaks out against housing plans

The headteacher of a school next to the former Smethwick police training centre has spoken about her concerns at plans to convert it into an HMO.

Fiona Deakin, who is headteacher of St Matthew's Church of England Primary School in Smethwick, said the plans submitted for Windmill House, the former West Midlands Police training centre on Windmill Lane, were of a concern to the whole community due to worries around traffic and its location.

She said: “Historically, it was set up as a residential, so not long-term, place where officers did their training and we were always very happy with them as our neighbours because we could verify that they’d been DBS checked.

“However, it’s been vacant for a while now and an application has been made to turn it into a HMO as it’s effectively set up with living quarters and his intention is the spaces there, with 10 bedrooms and one shared kitchen.

“The problem, to me, is that the building is right next to my school and is four stories high and he’s looking to turn it into the biggest HMO in the West Midlands.”

A previous application for the building by Kamraan Ahmed to turn the building into a 76 room HMO was rejected earlier this year, but a new application was put in for a 69 room development.

A note with the application said: “Following extensive review, the proposals have been comprehensively revised.

“The number of co-living rooms has been reduced from 76 to 69, allowing a substantial increase in on-site parking from 23 to 35 spaces.

“Internal layouts have been refined to improve the quality of accommodation and communal facilities, whilst external amenity has been enhanced through a redesigned first-floor roof terrace directly connected to the residents’ lounge, improved landscaped gardens and the relocation of refuse and cycle storage.”

Ms Deakin said she and other members of the community had fought the first application and were planning to fight the current application, starting with a public meeting.

She said: “The community have fought it once because it’s not just about the school, it’s about the local area, the volume of traffic and everything else that goes with this sort of premises.

“There is a public meeting at 3pm on Wednesday, September 16 at the school for parents and local residents, with Smethwick MP Gurinder Singh Josan CBE, Councillor Shaeen, Councillor Muflihi and Councillor Uddin all attending, along with representatives from local places of worship being present.

“We are expecting standing room only because if it goes ahead, and the developer seems confident it will, the development will become the largest in the West Midlands and, as far as I am aware, the largest in the UK is 84 in Kent.”

The applicant Kamraan Ahmed of Meizon sought to clarify what the application was about and said he was willing to engage with all parties around any concerns.

He said: “We fully appreciate the importance of managing traffic and parking around a school.

“The revised proposal has therefore increased on-site parking from 23 to 35 spaces while reducing the accommodation from 76 to 69 bedrooms.

“It also provides 69 secure cycle spaces and is supported by a detailed Transport Assessment, which estimates approximately 20 vehicle movements during the busiest hour and concludes that the development would not have an unacceptable impact on the local highway network.

“It is also important to clarify that no new four-storey building is being constructed next to the school.

“The application proposes the conversion and reuse of the existing former police training centre, whose height and relationship with the school are already established.

“An HMO is a planning description for shared residential accommodation.

“The proposal would be professionally managed, with controlled access, on-site management and measures governing security, visitors, and resident conduct.

“No specific planning evidence has been identified to suggest that this properly managed residential use would be incompatible with the neighbouring school.

“The revised application has been prepared with specialist planning and transport advice to address the Council’s previous reasons for refusal.

“We remain willing to engage constructively with the school, local residents and the Council about any specific, evidence-based concerns.”