Ferndale Matters
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The council is still taking comments. A decision is due on .

Send your objection

The paperwork for 1 Ferndale doesn’t add up.

A plan to turn four flats into a nine-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO) is due for a decision on Wednesday, 14 October 2026. One planning officer will decide it alone unless a councillor steps in. Here’s what the documents say, where they contradict each other, and how to make your objection count.

Send your objection See the evidence
Title block of drawing P006, Existing Floor Plans. Project: Change of Use Flats to a Large HMO. Project address: 1 Ferndale, Waterlooville PO7 7NZ.

Drawing P006, floor plans: 1 Ferndale, Waterlooville

Title block of drawing P004, Existing Elevations, submitted with the same application. Project: Loft Conversion And Rear Extension. Project address: 9 Gorse Hill Rd, Poole BH15 3QH.

Drawing P004, elevations: 9 Gorse Hill Rd, Poole

Two drawings from the same application, cropped from the council’s own file. The only elevations of the building are titled for a loft conversion in Poole. Read more about the drawings.

Three things you can do this week

  1. Read the evidence

    Ten places where the application contradicts itself, each linked to the page on the council’s file.

    The documents don’t add up

  2. Send your own objection

    In your own words, about how it affects you, quoting APP/26/00065. Template letters aren’t counted.

    How to object

  3. Ask a councillor to call it in

    A ward councillor can ask for the decision to be made in public by the Planning Committee. That needs at least five unique objections first.

    Who to contact

The applicant’s own documents disagree with each other on what is being built, how many people live there and what happens outside.

The elevation drawings are titled for a house in Poole

The application says
Drawings P004 and P005 are submitted as the existing and proposed elevations for this application.

Source: Existing Elevations (P004) ; Proposed Elevations (P005)

The file shows
Both title blocks read “Loft Conversion And Rear Extension” at “9 Gorse Hill Rd, Poole BH15 3QH”. Every other drawing on the file is titled “Change of Use Flats to a Large HMO, 1 Ferndale”. The drawings appear to show 1 Ferndale itself, so this looks like a reused template, but they are the only drawings of the outside of the building and the external changes they show (cladding, a porch, new windows) appear nowhere in the description of the development.

Source: Block Plan (P001) ; Existing Floor Plans (P006) ; Proposed Floor Plans (P007)

Why it matters. A permission lists the approved drawings. Approving drawings titled for another project at another address invites confusion over what was actually approved, and residents were never told that external changes were proposed.

“All works within the property”, except the wall, gates, porch, cladding and car park

The application says
“Convert 4 flats with 2 bedrooms into a single large HMO ... All works within the property.” No new or altered vehicle access is proposed.

Source: Application Form - Redacted, Q3 and Q6

The file shows
A new rendered boundary wall, automatic gates set back 5.5 metres, a front porch, white render, timber-effect cladding, replacement windows, a bin enclosure, cycle sheds, and parking that grows from 3 or 4 spaces to 9.

Source: Design & Access Statement, pages 3, 9, 11 and 13 ; Application Form - Redacted, Q10 ; Proposed Site & Location Plan (P003)

Why it matters. Neighbours were consulted on a description that leaves out every external change. The description should be corrected and the consultation run again.

Nine “rooms” that are studios in all but name

The application says
One house in multiple occupation (HMO) with nine bedrooms and shared facilities.

Source: Application Form - Redacted, Q3

The file shows
Every room has its own en-suite and a kitchenette with sink, two-hob cooker and storage. Each has its own lockable post box and its own parking space, and the Design and Access Statement calls them “units”. The applicant’s own CIL Form 1 answers Yes to “creation of one or more new dwellings”.

Source: Design & Access Statement, pages 7, 9 and 12 ; CIL Form 1: Additional Information, Q4b

Why it matters. If these are really nine homes rather than one HMO, the nutrient, parking and levy assessments all change. The council should assess what the plans show.

Four different figures for how many people live there now

The application says
There is no increase in occupation, so no harm and no nutrient impact.

Source: Bespoke assessment and Nitrogen Budget

The file shows
9 actual residents (letting agent’s letter). 9.6 (the occupancy calculation, at 2.4 per flat). “12 to 16” (Design and Access Statement, page 2). “2 cars each”, meaning 8 vehicles (page 13). Each figure appears where it helps the argument.

Source: Current Occupant Numbers Redacted ; Occupancy Calculation Statement Final ; Design & Access Statement, pages 2 and 13

Why it matters. The council has to compare like with like. Today’s nine people live as four households. The proposal is nine separate adults sharing a 53 m² social room, a gym and the garden.

See all ten problems

The proposal at a glance

1 Ferndale today and as proposed
TodayProposed
Homes4 two-bedroom flats1 HMO with 9 en-suite rooms, each with a kitchenette
Residents9 people in 4 households9 separate adults (rooms are big enough for 18)
Shared spaceNo shared indoor rooms53 m² kitchen and lounge, a gym, and the garden for “social use”
Parking3 to 4 spaces9 spaces, no visitor spaces
OutsideGarden, hedges and protected oaksNew wall, automatic gates, porch, cladding, bin store and cycle sheds

What is proposed, in plain English