Plans for a controversial 18-studio ‘co-living’ development on Wearside face rejection over fears it would cram too many residents onto a constrained site and worsen parking and road safety problems.

Sunderland City Council planning officers have recommended councillors refuse proposals to convert a building at the corner of Newcastle Road and Crozier Street, in Southwick, into accommodation aimed at key workers, graduates and young professionals.

They argue the scheme would amount to an “overdevelopment and over intensive use” of the site, raising concerns over limited outdoor space, the outlook from some studios, noise and privacy impacts and additional pressure on parking.

The application has also attracted 43 public objections, as well as opposition from all three Southwick ward councillors.

The plans for the new 'co-living' development, at the site of a former tool hire shop, have been recommended for refusal.

placeholder image — The plans for the new 'co-living' development, at the site of a former tool hire shop, have been recommended for refusal.

Applicant Lana Investment Group Ltd wants to redevelop the site, with the scheme expected to be operated and managed by Nova Co-Living if approved.

Accommodation would be provided across reconfigured ground, first and second floors, with each studio suite having an ensuite.

Residents would also have access to a communal kitchen and lounge, terrace, co-working area, large garden and cycle storage.

Developers say the proposal presents a “purpose-designed and professionally managed form of residential accommodation, providing an alternative to both conventional self-contained flats and a traditional sui generis HMO [house in multiple occupation].”

Sunderland City Council’s planning department, in a report published ahead of a decision-making meeting next week, has recommended the application be refused.

Concerns are linked to the proposals at the specific site, which is described as “highly constrained, providing no in-curtilage parking for staff, residents, or visitors and positioned on a busy signalised junction which serves a number of commercial uses”.

Officers argue that “adverse impacts” would “manifest by virtue of the overdevelopment and over intensive use of the site”, with concerns raised about “insufficient external amenity space” for the number of occupiers, “poor/limited outlook’ for some studios, the potential for increased noise and loss of privacy for neighbours and highway safety fears.

This includes the potential for overspill parking and increased vehicle and pedestrian movements exacerbating existing parking pressures and creating conditions “detrimental to highway and pedestrian safety”,

Concerns raised by members of the public range from proposed occupancy, the “high-density” nature of the development and the number of existing HMOs in the area, to management controls, proposed living conditions for occupants, privacy impacts, on-street parking pressures and more.

A decision is due at the planning and highways committee on Monday, September 28, at City Hall. The meeting starts at 5.30pm and is open to the public.