Flats plan for rooms above High Barnes Premier corner shop in Sunderland

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has received an application for the shop on the corner of Ewesley Road and Cleveland Road in High Barnes.

The site was previously a Spar-branded convenience store but was recently sold and subsequently re-branded as a Premier convenience store.

New plans submitted to council officials are seeking permission to change the building’s first floor into residential flats - but fears have been raised over neighbours being disturbed during building works.

A total of three self-contained flats are proposed at the site, each with a kitchen and living room area, one bedroom, a bathroom and a lobby area.

Floor plans also show several windows serving the flats and planning documents indicate proposed flats would range in size, from around 37m2 up to around 41m2.

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A planning application submitted to council officials notes that all flats would allow “adequate lighting levels” and have been designed as “single person occupancy” flats, along with “adequate noise insulation” being installed to “all rooms and party walls”.

The applicant also noted that “on street parking is available” in the area with “permit parking provision” under the city council’s community parking management scheme.

A decision on the planning application will be made once a period of council consultation has concluded.

Councillor Antony Mullen, Conservative representative for the Barnes ward, has already submitted comments as part of this process.

In a statement published on the council’s planning portal website, the councillor noted potential privacy issues from a new rooftop area with a canopy, which is being proposed to provide access to the first floor flats, as well as potential “disturbance” during the construction period.

Cllr Mullen did not object to the scheme but said there would “need to be mitigations to avoid disturbance to the immediate neighbour when conducting building works”.

He also said more windows were needed in the building and that all windows should be “uniform and in keeping with the style of neighbours on Ewesley Road”.

Sunderland City Council is expected to make a decision on the flats plan by March 3, 2025.

For more information on the plan or to track its progress, visit the council’s planning portal website and search reference: 25/00011/PCM