Flats approved for site of former Labour club

The former Embassy labour club in Lawrence Street, Long Eaton. Image from Google.

An historic former social club in a Derbyshire town will be demolished and replaced with a three-storey block of flats, despite privacy concerns from a neighbouring family.

At an Erewash Borough Council meeting this month (Wednesday, June 10th), councillors approved plans to demolish the former Embassy labour club in Lawrence Street, Long Eaton, to make way for 19 one-bed flats.

The scheme, from Prudent Land and Buildings, saw strong opposition from a neighbouring family who said the planned three-storey complex would both block light to their daughter’s bedroom and infringe on the privacy of their garden, with the two buildings currently separated by around a metre.

Tom Warren, who lives next door in Albert Street, said the impact on his family’s home had not been properly assessed.

He said: “At three storeys tall this will absolutely dwarf us but there has been no meaningful assessment about the loss of sunlight and privacy and the impact is deemed reasonable.”

Mr Warren said people walking along the planned upper corridor would have a view directly into the family’s garden.

Tom’s partner, Katarzyna Moskal, said previous plans for the Embassy site, including now lapsed flat schemes, had included privacy measures such as obscured windows facing the family’s home and windows that only open from the top.

She was shocked to see this scheme “offered no protections to our home”, asking “if these safeguards were needed before, why not now?”.

Ms Moskal said: “This is not just a planning decision, this is our family garden, our daughter’s bedroom, and there are no protections for our future in our house.

“This is a much more intensive scheme and with the fewest safeguards.”

Brett Cox, who lives nearby, said the development of the site was supported but “not in this format”, particularly due to the lack of on-street parking, with no parking spaces to be provided.

He said Mr Warren had his car written off by a bin lorry because there was no space to squeeze past on-street parking.

A further resident told the meeting that previous diversions routed through the road past the Embassy had led to bus drivers having to knock on doors for people to move their cars from allocated spots because there was not enough passing space.

They said the Embassy was in a good condition but had been left to “rack and ruin”.

Councillor Ann Mills (Green) said the plans ought to be approved and that prospective buyers will be aware of the lack of parking.

Meanwhile, Councillor Greg Maskalick (Lab), said: “I really feel for the young couple whose house will be affected. The impact on that bedroom window is of just concern and to lose privacy in that room and the back garden. With that bedroom used by a young child I understand that would be very concerning.”

He said this appeared to be another “roll of the dice” for developers on the site after numerous previous plans did not come to fruition.

Cllr Maskalick said: “I am not against the development but I am against a young couple being impinged upon.”

Steve Birkinshaw, the council’s head of planning, said the family’s home was “already highly compromised” due to the closeness of the neighbouring historic building, but said the limited change in this situation would not be enough to outweigh the benefits.

He said the shared outdoor patio space for flats residents would most likely be used for smoking and vaping and not for any sort of intense use.

Mr Birkinshaw said the upper corridor windows could be obscured to retain privacy.

He said this type of accommodation is needed in Long Eaton and said the scheme was not a HMO – house in multiple occupation.

Councillor Curtis Howard (Lab), said the former Embassy had been sold by his Labour colleague Cllr Frank Phillips.

He said: “When we see HMOs here at this committee we either turn them down or reluctantly approve them, saying we would much prefer they were one-bed flats.

“This is the part of Long Eaton which has the lowest rates of car ownership in the borough and so I expect car ownership for these residents will be relatively low.”

Cllr Howard said a planning appeal against a refusal would likely succeed due to the town centre location.

Councillor Kevin Miller (Con), said: “It is time to do something with this building. My only concern is the courtyard, with noise, smoking and vaping in the vicinity of a young child.”

After a discussion, councillors agreed to ensure windows overlooking the neighbouring home would have obscured glass and that the boundary fence and planting would be sufficiently tall to retain privacy.

Councillor Andrew Prince (Con) said: “We have another developer again who wants to build all the way up with no pitched roof, making it an outlier in this location.

“The third floor is an overdevelopment of this site. We are constantly talking about the need for flats but this would be unacceptable, it would be more in keeping in Derby.”

Councillors approved the plans by a vote of seven in favour, three against and one abstention.