Change of use plans that could have seen an empty shop in a coastal town centre given a new lease of life have been refused.

A bid to create a new seven-bedroom house of multiple occupation (HMO) with retail use retained at a two-and-a-half storey corner building in Lowestoft town centre was turned down last week.

A scheme had been submitted to East Suffolk Council in July for the site on London Road North that includes the vacant former O2 shop.

Centering around: "Change of use to HMO retaining front existing ground floor for commercial use" for the property at 113 London Road North in Lowestoft, plans were lodged by agents Blue Alpine Planning Ltd for applicant Mr Johan Chopra.

The empty corner building that comprises a ground floor shop with accommodation on the first and second floors is understood to have been built in 1950.

Proposals that would have seen the commercial unit retained earmarked the new HMO as starting on the ground floor as it stretched across the two upper floors.

The seven bedrooms would have been across all levels, while a communal kitchen, dining and living room facilities would have been on the first floor.

With the site area measuring 194sq m, the proposals to convert a commercial premises into a mixed use commercial and HMO property was refused under delegated powers last Thursday, September 12.

Objecting to the plans, Lowestoft Town Council said the development was in an area with a large concentration of HMOs, and the "proliferation" of HMOs was "counter to the regeneration aspirations" for the town.

Five locals also objected, citing concerns over the site being an "unsuitable location for a HMO" and fears it would "impact and detract from nearby businesses."

Concerns raised

A delegated report from the council's case officer said the proposals "would fail to provide an acceptable standard of living accommodation for potential occupiers and result in a poor standard of accommodation for future occupiers."

It said that two of the proposed ground floor bedrooms, which were to be behind the ground floor commercial unit, would have windows facing directly onto the street.

Concerns were also raised over the planned bin storage area which "is too small to serve a large HMO."

It said: "The application is therefore considered to be a poor functional design and layout that fails to adequately cater for the needs of the proposed occupiers and represents a poor standard of design and amenity, and poor quality of living environment, particularly to those tenants at ground floor level."

With the recommendation to refuse the scheme, a decision notice letter said: "East Suffolk Council as local planning authority hereby refuse to permit the development proposed."