Despite heartfelt pleas from concerned residents, council officials have rubber-stamped controversial plans for an HMO flat in Perth.
An application for a house in multiple occupation (HMO) licence was granted by licensing officers after elected members washed their hands of the decision.
Silver Storic, of North Berwick, had applied for the licence in a bid to install up to five tenants in the top floor flat he has purchased in Balhousie Street.
Neighbours urged councillors to refuse the proposal however, claiming that the property was ”unsuitable” for students.
After listening to more than an hour of submissions and deliberating in private for a further 20 minutes, they returned to chambers only to delegate responsibility to officials.
And as crestfallen objectors filed out of the council chambers, Mr Storic was already deep in talks to take his project forward.
The developer told Perth and Kinross Council’s licensing board that he had purchased the large third-floor flat in order to meet demand for ”good quality student accommodation” following the upgrade of Perth College to university status.
He told councillors he had spent £17,000 improving the property, following talks with council officials.
With the support of a Dundee-based lettings agency that specialises in HMOs, he now hopes to let the property to students at Perth College UHI or medical staff at Perth Royal Infirmary.
Emotional pleas were made in a bid to persuade councillors to refuse the HMO application, only for the objectors to be left angry as the committee abdicated responsibility for the decision.
An amendment by Councillor Dennis Melloy to refuse the application on the grounds that it was unsuitable for the property fell without a seconder.
Objectors had claimed that the HMO risked destroying the ”family-orientated community” that had been created.
After the meeting, a disappointed Claire Shufflebotham, who owns one of the properties, said: ”There is simply no consideration or respect afforded to people who have lived and worked in Perth for many years.”