Controversial plans for bungalow development rejected for site on outskirts of Sunderland

Sunderland City Council’s Planning and Highways Committee rejected plans for land off Tintern Close in the Houghton ward at a meeting this week.

The site is a parcel of grassed open space which sits near residential properties and the Sunniside Methodist Church.

New plans sought outline planning permission to build two semi-detached bungalows on part of the site with ‘all matters reserved’.

The outline planning application aimed to establish the principle of housing on the site, with detailed matters being subject to a separate ‘reserved matters’ application in future.

It was also confirmed that the applicant was willing to support the council “to provide or improve one or more types of green space nearby”.

During a council public consultation on the plans around 14 objections were received, largely from residents within Tintern Close, as well as a petition with 42 signatories.

Concerns included loss of the open space, which was said to be used by children, dog walkers and elderly residents,as well as highway safety, privacy and traffic disruption fears.

Those behind the bungalow plan said the development would retain 50% of the site’s green area and provide “ample parking”, and would also “address a well-documented shortfall of bungalows in the area”.

However a report prepared by council planning officers ahead of a decision-making meeting at City Hall this month, recommended the bungalow plans for refusal due to fears about loss of green space.

At a meeting of the Planning and Highways Committee on September 18, 2023, councillors voted to refuse the plan.

A council decision notice published after the meeting said the proposal was “unacceptable in principle” and outlined the reasons for the refusal.

This included the plans having an “adverse effect on the amenity and community function value of the site as greenspace, which is within a locality of the city identified as having a deficient quantity of amenity greenspace”.

The decision notice added: “Although the developer has agreed to enter into a planning obligation to provide improvements to greenspace within the vicinity, within the planning balance, it is considered that the benefits to be accrued from developing the open space would not outweigh the adverse amenity impacts caused by the loss of open space”.

Outline plans for four homes on the site were previously refused by the city council in January, 2021, with an appeal subsequently dismissed by a Government-appointed planning inspector.

New plans for semi-detached bungalows were brought forward in light of the appeal decision, with a section of the site expected to be retained as landscaped open space.

The applicant has the right to challenge the council’s refusal decision by lodging an appeal with the Secretary of State.

For more information on the planning application and council ruling, visit Sunderland City Council’s planning portal website and search reference: 23/01589/OUT