Plans for flats above former jewellers in Sunderland city centre refused

Back in 2022, Sunderland City Council’s planning department received an application for 15 Waterloo Place near the city’s central rail station.

The retail unit, which sits on the corner with Blandford Street, was previously occupied by the Herbert Brown jewellery shop but is understood to have been empty for years.

New plans aimed to convert the building’s upper floors into a “six-bedroom house in multiple occupation (HMO) for up to 12 people”.

According to submitted plans, each bedroom would have an en-suite bathroom as well as shared communal living/kitchen facilities.

Plans aimed to address issues raised by council planners on a previous planning application and included a bin storage area, the submission of a noise assessment and the ground floor remaining in retail use.

However the application sparked opposition with around eight public objections submitted, including from city businesses Hills Arts Centre, Harrison and Brown Furniture and Norfolk Street Studios.

Concerns ranged from the “over-concentration” of HMOs in the city centre and increased anti-social behaviour impacting on businesses, to fears about noise and disturbance.

After assessing the HMO plan against planning policies, Sunderland City Council’s planning department refused it on October 17, 2022.

Refusal reasons included the “sub-standard level of accommodation and amenity” for potential occupiers, “inadequate” bin storage and the plan being “detrimental to the visual amenities” of the property and wider “street scene”.

Following the ruling, the applicant lodged an appeal and a planning inspector was appointed by the Secretary of State to rule on the matter.

After considering cases from both parties, the planning inspector upheld the city council’s refusal decision and dismissed the appeal.

An appeal decision report published in May, 2023, set out the reasons for the decision.

Although no issues were raised about bin storage or potential harm to the character and appearance of the area and building, the planning inspector singled out several issues around living conditions.

This included the “small” and “narrow” communal kitchen area which, the planning inspector argued, would “make circulation of multiple users within the kitchen workspace area difficult”, as well as “likely extending kitchen activity out into the communal living area”.

The communal living area was also noted as being “small, awkwardly shaped and therefore inadequate for the potential capacity of the development”, with concerns also raised about one bedroom providing “poor levels of natural light”.

The appeal decision report also noted Sunderland City Council’s Core Strategy and Development Plan, or local plan, requires HMO accommodation to “provide a good standard of living space and amenity for occupiers”.

In the case of 15 Waterloo Place, it was argued that “the size of the communal space and poor outlook and lack of natural light for the future occupier of bedroom 2 given would not provide suitable living accommodation for future occupiers”.

The appeal decision report added: “ I have identified that there would be harm to the living conditions of future occupiers, but not in respect of the refuse arrangements and character and appearance of the host building and area.

“This harm identified is not outweighed by these aspects.

“The proposed development conflicts with the development plan whenconsidered as a whole and there are no material considerations, eitherindividually or in combination, that outweigh the identified harm and associated development plan conflict”.

A number of bids have been made to convert the building’s upper floors into residential accommodation in recent years.

This included a separate application for six self-contained apartments which were labelled “sub-standard” by city council planners and refused in June, 2022.

For more information on the recent appeal decision, visit the Planning Inspectorate’s website and search reference: APP/J4525/W/22/3310883