A MOVE to help the recruitment of nurses by providing temporary accommodation on a private estate has run into opposition.

Now, Rhyl Town Council is calling on Denbighshire County Council, which has informally approved the practice, to take enforcement action.

Cartrefi Conwy has applied for retrospective planning consent for the change of use of three four-bedroomed houses on the Parc Aberkinsey estate in Rhyl to multiple occupation.

Since last year, the properties – two in Lon Taylor and one in Llys Walsh - have each housed four nurses recently recruited by the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.

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In a letter supporting the application, which was submitted last July, Tom Skelley, Cartrefi Conwy’s development surveyor, said: “The health board has 900 nursing vacancies and are struggling to find people in North Wales to fill these.

“They have had no option but to embark on an ambitious programme to bring in 200 qualified nurses from overseas to help them fill these vacancies.

“These nurses are leaving families in their home country to pursue a new career in ours. Many have children and partners that they would intend to bring over once they have settled into the area.”

A report to next week’s (April 20) meeting of the county planning committee states that the nurses are housed for three months, after which they are assisted to find their own permanent accommodation.

Despite the council having a policy against houses in multiple occupation, an agreement was reached for two years.

“Given the very unique set of circumstances and the pressures on BCUHB during the crisis, the council took a pragmatic approach and accepted the temporary breach, albeit on an informal basis,” says the report.

Parc Aberkinsey, it adds, is an ideal location, being within easy reach of the Glan Clwyd Hospital, and since the scheme began there have been no complaints.

But Rhyl Town Council is strongly against the proposal, arguing that the Welsh Government, county council and other public bodies have spent millions on removing HMOs in the town and that granting permission would give the impression that HMOs were now acceptable.

“The justification provided by the applicant in their covering letter for the change of use is considered to be unacceptable and concerning, and seems to suggest that because the proposed end-users are being recruited from abroad it is acceptable for them to be housed in what is considered by the council to be substandard form of accommodation,” says the council.

It is also concerned at the loss of three four-bedroomed houses from the social lhousing register when there is a great local demand.

In addition to objecting to the application, the council is asking Denbighshire to take immediate enforcement action to stop the temporary use by the nurses.