PARTS of Barnsley are in danger of returning to the slum conditions of the 1960s according to a couple with grave concerns about the rise of bedsit accommodation.
Gary and Sharon Fletcher are full-time carers to adults with learning disabilities and live in a six bedroom home on Springfield Street - one of the last homes on the street not to have been converted into flats.
All around their home, large Victorian properties have been split up into bedsits, and as a result of overcrowding, bins regularly overflow with rubbish spilling into the streets.
Matters were made worse when a wooden structure housing large communal bins was burned down by vandals.
And now they are furious that planning permission has been granted to turn the former council offices Springfield House into yet more apartments.
“Rubbish is already overflowing as it is,” said Sharon, 46, who has lived in Springfield Street for four years.
“There’s settees and chairs been dumped in the street for weeks. I’ve rung the council to report it and they’ve started giving me a quote to come and pick it up.
“The rubbish in and around the bins in constantly present and rats running down the street are not uncommon.
“Living like this is not acceptable in modern times, it’s like living in Victorian slum dwellings.
“To add insult to injury, what were council offices on Springfield Street have been sold to be turned into flats.”
Sharon said they were not consulted or even informed about the application, which she fears will only make matters worse.
“A lot of the people living in these bedsits are migrants. They’ve come here for a better life, but they’re being put in these rabbit warrens, cramming more and more people into squalor.
“We have no problem whatsoever with any of the people who’ve come here as migrants. They just want to make a better life for themselves like we all do.
“Whether you’re British or not, Barnsley or not, you should be entitled to a basic standard of living conditions.”
Gary, 55, said he had grave concerns, having grown up in Halifax in a crowded street of back-to-back houses.
Gary is part Italian and says he recalls living in a diverse street with people of all nationalities, who got on together well. But as overcrowding escalated, tensions started to mount.
“I am very worried,” he said. “We’re in danger of re-creating the slum conditions that were supposed to have gone away in the 1960s and 70s, and we just don’t need it.
“I’ve lived through a ghetto-like experience in Halifax, and I know it creates friction and tensions, and I am very concerned. We don’t want that.”
Gary and Sharon both welcomed news last week that the council plans to limit room sharing in bedsits, or ‘housing in multiple occupation’. In future only adults who are related or cohabiting will be allowed to share rooms in these properties.
Council spokesman Coun Roy Miller said the council had been left with reduced powers to limit developments like that at Springfield House, and was working to address issues that might arise.
He said: “The previous government introduced changes which allow sites, such as office buildings, to be converted into residential accommodation without the need for full planning permission.
“This means that the council is only able to assess a limited number of criteria, and the proposal to convert Springfield House was in accordance with this criteria.
“The council is aware of the possible cumulative effects of this national approach and we're exploring ways to address any issues that arise.”
